Dartmoor Zoo hoping for romance between rare leopards
The zoo said Amur leopards are predominantly found in the border areas between Russia, North-East China and North Korea."Amur Leopards gravitate towards densely forested areas, avoiding grasslands or overpopulated areas," it said. "Much of this area, however, is regularly under threat from unsustainable logging, forest fires, agriculture and industrial development."Mr Gibson said the introduction of the leopards was the "culmination of over three years work"."It is a part of our ongoing work supporting the conservation breeding of highly endangered species," he said."We are very hopeful that, now the pair have been physically introduced, we will be welcoming a litter of cubs in the near future."
The zoo organised fence line encounters and habitat swaps for the cats before the introduction took place in a sectioned off area.Dartmoor Zoo's animal manager Madeleine Millin said "mixing big cats can be a dangerous business, and not to be rushed". "Both cats demonstrated positive behaviours towards one another and over time their relationship remained steady," she said. "Their first encounter was brief with a little vocalisation and Lena rolling over to submit, resulting in Freddo walking away, which is exactly what we wanted to see. "They then spent the day watching and sitting near to each other."She added: "Overall, it went extremely well, and we are very proud and pleased with their introduction. "We are excited for their future and look forward to seeing their relationship blossom."
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Russian officials say 48 pipo na im die wen one Angara Airlines plane go down for one thick forest for di far-eastern region of Amur. Di Antonov An-24 plane, wey carry 42 passengers and six crew bin comot for Blagoveshchensk close to di Chinese border and just disappear from di radar screens as e dey approach Tynda airport, officials tok. Russian civil aviation helicopter den see fuselage wey dey burn from di plane on a remote hillside about 16km (10 miles) from Tynda. Amur regional governor Vasily Orlov say five children dey among those on board and e don declare three days of mourning. We dey updates dis tori
