Meet our newest arrival, Luka the Amur leopard!
We are proud to announce our newest arrival at the Sanctuary, Luka. Luka is a 2-year-old Amur leopard and was born on 9th September 2019 and raised at Colchester Zoo. He arrived at the Sanctuary on 3rd November.
Luka is a gorgeous and large male Amur leopard. He has beautiful markings and will be an amazing addition to The Big Cat Sanctuary’s family.
He will be partnered with Xizi as a breeding pair to help populate the numbers of Amur leopards in captivity, creating a safety net for the species if they were to go extinct in the wild. Xizi is our 16-year-old Amur leopard and has had cubs previously with Artur and Hogar. She had two boys with Artur in 2008 and had one girl and 1 boy with Hogar in 2012.
Hogar was moved to Rutland Zoo in December 2020 to make more space for Xizi and Artur as they both were a breeding pair at the time. Unfortunately, Artur sadly passed away at the beginning of the year in April 2021.
Amur leopards are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and are the most endangered big cat in the world. There are approximately 100 Amur leopards left in the wild and around 350 in captivity. The species can be found from far-eastern Russia in the Amur valley. The main threats faced in the wild are from poaching for their fur and the use of traditional Asian medicine.
Luka has been at the Sanctuary for over a week now. He has been taking some time to adjust to his new surroundings and new neighbours, Xizi and Atara. We are sure that over the next few weeks he will settle and become comfortable in his new home!
We are excited for you all to hopefully meet Luka the next time you visit the Sanctuary. Stay tuned for our latest updates of Luka on our social media!
Watch Luka’s arrival video HERE!
Take part in one of our amazing animal experiences at The Big Cat Sanctuary including big cat experiences, photography experiences, safari lodges and overnight safari stays, ranger for a day experiences and our big cat afternoon tea with Paul Hollywood. You can also adopt a big cat and help the conservation efforts that support our amazing animals!