SINGAPORE, Jan 24 — The Mandai Wildlife Reserve here is celebrating a New Year baby boom, with three Sri Lankan leopard cubs and two capybara pups born earlier this month.
According to The Straits Times, the leopard triplets, born on January 1, have brought the population of the rare species at Mandai to seven, with six at the Singapore Zoo and one at the Night Safari.
Currently, the cubs and their mother are spending time together behind closed doors, but a live camera captures their antics on a mounted television screen at the zoo’s leopard exhibit section.
Mandai Wildlife Group’s curator for animal care, Anand Kumar, said it was the first litter for parents Asanka and Yala.
He told The Straits Times that Yala has been “an exceptional mother” despite it being her first time, adding that “she’s attentive, calm, and constantly keeping an eye on her lively triplets as they nurse, chirp with playful squeaks, and explore their nest box with growing curiosity”.
Mandai also welcomed two capybara pups just days after New Year’s Day, the first in about a decade, bringing the total number of capybaras at the reserve to 13.
Visitors can see the capybara pups and their mother near the Amazon River Quest in River Wonders, as well as during the Once Upon A River presentation and the Amazonia Encounters walk-through exhibit.
