Show I I. I Leopards endangered and adorable AI I Michael E. E Ruane The Washington PostIn Post PostIn PostIn In the end Hannibal did not administer the fatal bite to his mates mate's neck And Jao lao Chu did not immediately kill their offspring as is often the case And so early Tuesday despite murderous r. r tJ 10 n u. u un apu VI species two newborn clouded leopard cubs were found alive well and squealing at the National Zoos Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal Va They were taken immediately from their gorgeous mother before she could do them harm or do them in placed in an incubator set at 88 degrees and fed salt water from baby bottles Born with dappled f reptile-pattern reptile fur they were the first such births at atthe atthe I f the zoo in 16 years f Their births were a coup r i and the end of a complex reproduction s saga saga ga involving an exotic endangered and j beautiful species of animal that experts call the ghost cat It was also a genetic home run The zoo said the cubs' cubs genes which come from outside the captive population make them among the most valuable clouded leopards in North America Genetically they're the most valuable animals outside their home range said Ken Lang a zoo expert on the species because their genes stem directly from the wild Th These se are totally new genes The births are thus a heavy responsibility The precious cubs must be hand raised by the zoos zoo's staff to guarantee their survival Its scary said Lang the centers center's mammal unit supervisor Its a lot of pressure We haven't had babies for 16 years In addition the births were the first in the official North American clouded leopard zoo population in six years the zoo said The zoo has 14 clouded leopards including the newborns two at the zoo in n Washington and 12 at atthe the research center about 60 miles west of here Tt TL I 1 t me m is native to Southeast Asia the zoo said It Itis is about the size of a weight medium-weight dog with a small head luminous eyes and long white whiskers It has weird black and tan spots that seem to blur int into one another huge paws and an extremely long tail It is an acrobatic climber and can walk on the underside of tree branches or vertically down a tree trunk the zoo said And it has unusually long sharp teeth that resemble the fangs on a poisonous snake But the leopards are endangered in the wild andare andare and andare are hunted in Asia for their beautiful pelts The zoo had a successful breeding program for clouded leopards during the and early but it was halted in 1993 because of fears of inbreeding among mong related leopards across the country The program proved difficult to resume The zoos zoo's animal reproduction expert Howard said zoos across the United States and in Thailand found that when a male and anda a female were put together to breed the larger male often would pounce pounce- on the female and kill her with a fatal bite to the back of the neck When a female did become pregnant she often killed her cubs accidentally or intentionally Howard said Experimentation eventually suggested that 1 if a male and fe female ale were raised together the male would not kill the female once they reached adulthood and mated Howard said You Yogi want to put the male in with the female pair them up as early as possible she said Hannibal and Jao lao Chu were such a pair They were imported from Thailand last year Howard said and reached puberty together Lang said experts believed the two mated several months ago at the center but were not certain About a week ago curators realized Jao lao Chu looked as if she might be pregnant Several days ago she was placed on a pregnancy watch and when she turned down her usual snack of two dead mice Monday morning Lang said they figured she was pregnant Early Tuesday she vanished from the area of her enclosure that is monitored by video cameras and about 1 30 am a.m. Lang was summoned from his home on the center grounds He unlocked the door of the leonards leonard's u enclosure entered and spotted her in the corner comer with the two cubs He left immediately I didn't want to get her upset he said time First mother You never know what they're going to do with the babies His reaction was excitement and fear Its excitement that she finally had them and she really was pregnant he said And then its it's the fear Oh my God are they alive aliye Are we going to be able to get them out OK And now youre you're the caregiver You become Mom He said he was worried because the cubs were on a concrete floor and could become chilled He wanted to get them into the warm incubator as soon as J 1 r d possible He said he gathered other curators and armed with anet anet a anet net three people reentered the enclosure separated the mother who backed off and gathered up the cubs The cubs were taken to the centers center's veterinary hospital examined and found to be a little cold but in good health One weighed grams the other grams Their sexes could not immediately be determined Later Tuesday they appeared robust and squeaked loudly as Lang in green scrubs and rubber gloves took their then temperatures temperature and bottle fed them Atta boy he said as one cub drained the small b bottle ott 1 e. e B Big Ig drink When Lang was finished I he turned out the lights in the room and locked L l the big steel door where there was a sign that read Quarantine I IY Y r c 1 It T k ti s I II II I I Washington Post photo by Tracy A. A Woodward I This clouded leopard cub is one of two born at the National Zoos Zoo's facility |