Say Hello to Paitoon & Jilian October 7, 2019
Posted by nrhatch in Animals, Life Balance, Nature.trackback
Like cats?
Meet Paitoon & Jilian:
For the first time, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is home to rare clouded leopard cubs. The two cubs are the newest residents on the Zoo’s Asia Trail; [they made] their public debut Wednesday, Sept. 11.
The cubs are a male named Paitoon and a female named Jilian. They were born April 29 and March 24, respectively, at the Nashville Zoo. Visitors will be able to see them for short periods of time during the morning at the clouded leopard exhibit from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The cubs are learning how to climb but will need to be supervised by keepers while they explore and acclimate to their new exhibit. As they become more independent, they will spend longer periods of time on exhibit until they no longer need keeper supervision, and visitors will be able to see them for much of the day.
“The cubs are extremely curious and precocious; they have been exploring and investigating every nook-and-cranny of their new home,” said Michael Brown-Palsgrove, curator of Asia Trail. “It’s a great time to visit the clouded leopard exhibit to see them and learn about all our conservation efforts here and in Thailand.”
Clouded leopards are arboreal and have large paws with sharp claws and long tails that help them adeptly navigate forest canopies of Southeast Asia. The Zoo’s energetic cubs spend most of their time perfecting their natural climbing abilities and wrestling and vocalizing to each other.
Aah . . . that’s precious!
Such beautiful creatures!
Agreed!
Pretty kitties — but not too close and purrsonal!
Oh, the paws! The paws!
Gorgeous! I want one! 🙂
Bet they’d enjoy watching your hummers!
Sadly, I’m afraid are hummers might be gone. I saw a few on Saturday, but none since…I’m depressed. 😦
Where is their gratitude for all your sweet ministrations?! 😛
Awh!! Cute!.Thanks for showing. I told my hubby we have to go. 🙂
Are you close to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo? Lucky you!
Yes! About 1 and 1/2 hours away. 🙂
If you go . . . enjoy the cubs!
Not a big fan of zoos, but the cubs are gorgeous. 😍
Zoos with empty concrete enclosures are the worst. I’m delighted that these cubs have real trees to climb up, around, over and through.
And boxes!
I think they’re cuter than pandas.
Me too. Pandas chew on eucalyptus leaves and roll around. That’s it. Leopard cubs can rock & roll!
I love cats but kittens are in a totally different category ❤️❤️
These 2 little rascals are absolutely adorable!
I got my regular weekly e-newsletter from the Smithsonian, scrolled down, saw these guys, and was hooked!
Oh my goodness! Precious is the word! 😄 So adorable.
Baby animals are so distracting . . . and joy producing!
Those two are as cute as can be. They’re the cat’s pajamas, I do blieve.
The word I was going for there is believe. 🙄
I believe you!
Are they special or what! Wow! Thank you for the introduction, Nancy!
I enjoyed watching them ~ in the case of kittens and cubs, two is always more fun to watch than one. 😀
Beautiful and so unusual! I was amazed at the length and strength of their tail, also the bold markings–sort of like giraffes–and the long faces.
Yes, they look a bit different than any kittens or cubs I’ve seen before. The intensity of their faces as they assessed the landscape won me over.