Renji, the Chattanooga Zoo's snow leopard will soon move to the Cincinnati Zoo in hopes of breeding with Nubo.
photo by Patricia Benson
The Chattanooga Zoo’s famous female snow leopard, “Renji” will soon have a new home at the Cincinnati Zoo. The 14 month old large cat is being relocated with the hopes of breeding with the Cincinnati Zoo’s 10 month old male snow leopard, “Nubo.”
The Chattanooga Zoo plays an important part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA’s) Species Survival Plan (SSP) which manages specific, and typically threatened or endangered, species populations within AZA-accredited Zoos and Aquariums. Seven different SSP species are currently housed at the Chattanooga Zoo, including three highly endangered snow leopards.
Chattanooga Zoo President and CEO, Darde Long said that given that snow leopards are critically endangered (there are only an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 left in the wild) the Chattanooga Zoo feels honored to be able to make such a huge contribution towards the conservation of the species. “Although we are certainly sad to see our beloved Renji go, we feel very blessed to have had her as long as we did and are very hopeful that her parents, ‘Czar’ and ‘Kasimir’ will have more cubs,” she said. Currently, Czar is on loan from the Pittsburgh Zoo with the purpose of breeding with the Chattanooga Zoo’s female Kasimir. Renji’s birth made headlines last year for being a miracle, due to the fact that Snow Leopard births in captivity are extremely rare and only 30% of cubs survive the birth process.
She is scheduled to leave sometime during the week of March 12-16. The Chattanooga Zoo invites the public to come see her before she leaves.