The Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo has just welcomed two new Clouded Leopards, Zoo Director and Curator Ashley Burdick announced.

“Harry and Ping, a 6-year-old pair, are on loan to us from the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Florida,” she said. “This is a successful breeding pair, so with any luck we may be able to welcome some Clouded Leopard kittens in the future.”

Clouded Leopards are native to Southeast Asia, China and Northeast India. It is believed there are less than 10,000 of their species left and they are in the 1st level of being threatened, known as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Burdick said.

“They have the largest canine teeth in comparison to their body size, are strong swimmers and are able to climb down trees head first due to their flexible ankle joints,” she continued. “We made some modifications to the previous African Leopard exhibit and they are currently settling in, so their area will be closed off to the public until they feel more comfortable in their new surroundings. We will share to the zoo’s Facebook page when they are ready to see visitors.

“We also typically quarantine animals when they first arrive, but since they are the only mammal species in that portion of the zoo, we are able to quarantine them together at their exhibit, which means the public can hopefully enjoy them sooner!”

Burdick provided photos courtesy of their keepers McKenna and Taylor at Gulf Breeze Zoo in Woodlawn Beach, Florida.