Endangered Leopards Birth Suprises All

At the National Zoo in Washington this week, the surprise birth of not one, but two clouded leopard cubs is giving new hope to an endangered species.

The whiskered cubs were born at the zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va. It's a tale of survival for these long-tailed felines -- their father didn't kill their mother, and she didn't kill them, as often happens when they are in captivity.

Clouded leopards are native to Southeast Asia and parts of China, but are vulnerable to extinction because of hunting and deforestation. The tan- and black-spotted animals weigh about a half pound when born and grow to as much as 50 pounds as adults. Scientists say they are the "smallest of the big cats," and their tails account for half of their length.

Because their parents are only a generation or two removed from the wild, the cubs' genes are highly valuable.

Dr. JoGayle Howard, a reproductive scientist largely responsible for the successful birth of these two cubs, chatted with Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen about the miraculous births of the now two-day-old cubs.

"They're doing great," Howard said. "This is a very endangered species, so we're very worried, every day is a big hurdle. But right now they're eating well, they're strong. We're very happy with their progress."

"Genetically, they're the most valuable animals outside their home range," Ken Lang, a zoo expert on the animals, told The Washington Post. "These are totally new genes."

Zoo officials say breeding the animals in captivity is a challenge because when a pair are put together to mate, the male often pounces on the female and kills her with a bite to the neck. They don't know why this happens, but research suggests pairing mates early on helps prevent attacks.

"We've been studying clouded leopards at the National Zoo for many years trying to understand their biology and their seasonality and a lot of their reproduction traits," said Howard. "And we knew that this female came in heat in December, but it wasn't a very strong heat. It was her first heat, and we thought it would last longer. And the male was interested. It was good news that he was interested, and he had no indication that he was going to hurt her.

"This is a common problem in clouded leopards is the male attacks females, especially when they're in estrus. But he was very interested, and he mounted. So, we just didn't see any really good breeding, but yet when we looked at this cat several weeks ago, we thought, 'Well she could really be pregnant.' So the timing was right, and that's when we started our 24-hour pregnancy watch," Howard said.

The cubs' mother and father, Jao Chu and Hannibal, came from Thailand last year.

Another difficulty zoo officials have faced is that when a female does become pregnant, she often kills the cubs by accident or intentionally. In the case of these cubs, curators quickly separated them from their mother and have already started bottle-feeding them.

"It's scary," Lang said of raising the cubs. "It's a lot of pressure."

The cubs' sex won't be known until their first veterinary exam.

In the last 30 years, more than 70 clouded leopards have been born at the Virginia facility, with the last litter born in 1993.

Zoo officials said the new cubs will not be on display. But visitors can get a glimpse of other clouded leopards at the Washington zoo.