How to See the DC Zoo's New Clouded Leopard Cubs

May 12, 2010 at 11:16 AM | by Omri | Comments (0)

Washington DC's National Zoo has been having quite a season, first with the acquisition of a rare baby giant octopus and now with the birth of an endangered scimitar-horned oryx. They also just finished sending the internet into collective fits of aww'ing with glamor shots of their new baby clouded leopards. There was already an earlier photo set of the twin cubs on Flickr, taken just after the two were born on Valentine's day. Very cute. But the most recent set is just kind of absurdly adorable. Here's all the details to keep you aww'ing over the cubbies:

Staff have determined that the genetically valuable litter of two clouded leopard cubs born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va. Feb. 14 (Valentine�s Day) are both male. The cubs are now eating up to 88 grams of feline diet, two times per day, in addition to formula... In addition, the cubs now �chuff,� which can be described as a puffing sound and is considered a sign of recognition. They are very playful�rolling around and chasing each other�after each feeding.

Unfortunately the clouded leopards aren't on exhibit, so there's no way for visitors to see them in person. Instead the zoo has set up two different webcams—one here and one here—so that fans can watch them play and eat and sleep. Mostly sleep. It's not as good as seeing them for real, but it's still more cuteness than is necessarily safe if you've got anything to do today. The cats actually live in the zoo's 1911 Virginia conservation facility, and viewers are encouraged to donate so that a new home can be built.

The zoo has been doing exceptionally well setting up where-did-all-the-time-go animal webcams. Earlier this morning, we lost 10 minutes on the second leopard webcam, where one of the cats was pacing back and forth on the rafters and obviously plotting mischief. The baby giant octopus feed that we wrote about in March also continues to be inexplicably fascinating. Ditto, actually, for pretty much all of their almost 20 cams.

[Photos: Mehgan Murphy / Smithsonian's National Zoo / Flickr]

Related Stories:
· Oh Good Golly, Glamour Shots of Clouded Leopard Cubs [DCist]
· Animals [Jaunted]
· Zoos [Jaunted]

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