KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Zoo is now home to a 10-year-old female Amur leopard. There are only 38 out of 230 accredited AZA facilities in the United States that exhibit these rare and elusive cats.
Amur leopards are from Asia and are one of the rarest felines in the world with only an estimated 45 individuals in the wild. The Kansas City Zoo is honored to become a part of its conservation efforts.
Her new digs in Africa hosts new logs for climbing and scratching, a new sand area for digging and a hollowed log for resting. She is adapted to cooler climates with her thick fur that grows longer during the winter months. Her rosettes are more widely spaced than those on other leopards. She is a carnivore and her tongue is specially adapted with tiny hooks called “denticles” that are used to scrape meat off the bones of their prey.
For more information, visit KansasCityZoo.com.
