A new four-legged friend at the Magnetic Hill Zoo is raising awareness of an endangered species.
Milan, an Amur Leopard, joined the family in November or December 2022.
Director Jill Marvin says, “He was born in 2018, at Zoo de Granby, in Granby, Quebec. He was born by Caesarean. He is part of a species survival program for this endangered leopard.”
This is not the first Amur Leopard who has lived at Magnetic Hill Zoo.
“Unfortunately, our Amur Leopard Tush passed away last year of old age. We had been watching her declining health for the last two to three years. We’re very committed to the species survival program for the Amur Leopard and the Amur Tigers. We had an enclosure available to have one of these ambassadors at our zoo to help protect these species,” Marvin says.
Milan was in quarantine when he first arrived, but Marvin says he has settled in very well and is enjoying his new habitat, “He’s doing great. The quarantine period gave our zookeepers a chance to know him a little bit better and for him to adapt after the transport and to learn his behaviour. Once he finished quarantine, and our veterinarian cleared him, he moved into the habitat. It had been previously occupied by Tush, but our carpenter and our maintenance team completely revamped it to make it more suitable for a young male Amur Leopard.”
The Zoo has started to reopen in preparation for the spring and summer months. It is now open on Sundays in March and Marvin says the visitors will be able to see Milan.
“He is loving his high posts and visitors can definitely see his beautiful coat has beautiful eyes. Both Milan and Alec are Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger. They’re ambassadors for their species. We have them to raise awareness for this species that is endangered,” Marvin adds.
