Marwell's Amur Leopard Cub Name Is Pure Russian!

Marwell Zoological Park received a staggering 10,000 votes on its online poll to name its Amur leopard cub and the winning name is...Kiska. Pronounced 'Keys-ka', Kiska is a Russian girl's name meaning pure. The name was extremely popular and received a whopping 45% of the votes.

The beautiful cub is 4 months and 1 day old today (Wednesday 19th March) and every day her confidence grows as she explores her new home. Kiska is already practising her hunting skills and loves to bite her mum's tail!

Less than 35 Amur leopards remain in the wild, making them one of the rarest big cats in the world. Kiska was born part of a European conservation breeding programme to help save the species from extinction. Kiska's Mum Ascha and her Dad Akin both live at Marwell.

If you can't see Kiska in person you don't need to miss out as Marwell is offering a special Kiska adoption package. The exciting package contains a certificate with a picture of an Amur leopard, a fact sheet all about Amur leopards, an admission ticket to the Park and a copy of Marwell's newsletter 'Marwell News'. The adopters name will also feature on the Park's adoptions 'Thank You' board for everyone to see! For more details visit Marwell's website: www.marwell.org.uk or call the Adoptions office on 01962 777407

Amur leopards used to live in the forests and mountains of Russia, Korea and China but they are now only found in the Far East of Russia. They are endangered because they are killed for their beautiful fur coats and their bones are also passed off as tiger bones in the illegal tiger bone trade. Other reasons include loss of habitat and depletion of their prey species.