Brookfield Zoo's snow leopard cub makes public debut

Photos courtesy Jim Schulz/Chicago Zoological

Brookfield Zoo introduced a 3-month-old snow leopard cub, and like all baby animals, it’s well worth taking a break from work to gawk.

The 15 pound cub was born on June 13. 140 snow leopards (including the as-of-yet unnamed cub) live in North America, according to the zoo’s press release. Snow leopards, when not relaxing in suburban Chicago, are typically found in in the mountains of Central Asia.

Snow leopards were declared an endangered species in 1972. There’s no clear idea of how many snow leopards exist, but estimates put the total population somewhere between 4,000 and 7,500.

Don’t miss Lincoln Park Zoo’s baby rhino, who made his public debut Tuesday.