Amur Leopard Cub Is Newest Addition At The Brookfield Zoo

CHICAGO (CBS) --  Even though the Brookfield Zoo is closed to the public, there's been a lot of activity there as a new animal joined the others.

On March 3, an Amur leopard cub was born at the zoo. The male cub is named Sasha. According to the zoo, he is currently bonding with his mother, Lisa. It is the third liter for the nine-year-old leopard. Lisa has Temur, born in 2016 as well as twin brothers Jilin and Samson who arrived  in 2018.

A camera put in an animal-proof box piqued Sasha's curiosity.

"The Amur leopard is critically endangered with less than 65 animals left in the wild. Threats to the species include poaching retribution, hunting, loss of habitat due to logging and human settlement and loss of prey," according to a news release from the Chicago Zoological Society. "Today, they are only found in one isolated population in the Russian Far East. There may be a few in northeast China."

These leopards live in temperate forests with cold winters and hot summers. The animals are typically at rest in trees and dense vegetation. And sometimes along rocks during the day.