06/24/2026
🐆 Meet Zorinka!
Visitors to Roosevelt Park Zoo may “spot” a new face in the Amur Leopard Forest Habitat. Zorinka, a 3-year-old female Amur leopard, has arrived from the San Diego Zoo following a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Amur Leopard Species Survival Plan® (SSP). She will join Roosevelt Park Zoo’s male Amur leopard, Jordan, as part of an effort to help ensure the future of one of the world’s rarest big cats.
Amur leopards are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild. The species is native to the temperate forests of eastern Russia and northeastern China, where habitat loss, declining prey populations, poaching, and illegal wildlife trade continue to threaten its survival.
Through participation in the AZA Species Survival Plan, Roosevelt Park Zoo is contributing to the long-term conservation of the species by helping maintain a healthy and genetically diverse population in human care. The hope is that collaborative breeding efforts today will help safeguard the species for generations to come.
To read the entire story, go here 👉 https://bit.ly/4oLconz
