Patience and hard work paid off for the conservation and breeding programme at Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoo located in the capital Agartala as following a wait of 12 long years, two new clouded leopard cubs joined the family of felines.

With this the total number of these leopards in the Zoo is 10. Of these three are females and seven males.

Talking to eastmojo.com, Pravin Agarwal, the Chief Wildlife Warden, called this addition a big success for the Zoo as well as the wildlife sanctuary. “The leopard cubs were handed over to the zoo authorities on Thursday after all the necessary procedures. Both the cubs are healthy and they are adjusting well.”

Sharing details about the programme, Pritam Bhattacharjee, the District Forest Officer remarked: “The in-situ breeding program was first undertaken in 2010. Since then, we have been trying to create a conducive atmosphere for the big cats to breed. Unfortunately, we could achieve little success. This year, the breeding programme was successful. Of the two cubs we received, one is male and the other is female.”

The male cub has been christened as Antarip while his sister has been named Julekha. They were hand-reared for 4 months from the age of two in the Sepahijala Biological Complex, the DFO said

Bhattacharjee went on to add: “In zoos, the birth of a female cub is a rare incident. The entire medical team has worked relentlessly to turn this breeding program into a big success. The cubs are now four months old and they have evolved with the atmosphere of the zoo.”

The clouded leopards have been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red list since 2008.

Also read: Rare Clouded Leopard spotted in West Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve