Snow Arrives at Taronga Zoo This Winter

These school holidays, Zoo visitors will be amongst the first to catch a glimpse of Taronga’s magnificent new male Snow Leopard.

The male, ‘Khumbu’, recently made the journey from Port Macquarie to be paired with Taronga’s female, ‘Samara’, to sire a new generation of Snow Leopards, which are endangered in the wild.

Although still settling in, Zoo visitors will be able to glimpse the agile big cat prowling around Taronga’s Snow Leopard Mountain and marvel at his long, luxuriant tail which Snow Leopards use for balance and also to wrap around themselves like a scarf, to keep warm in the rugged mountains of central Asia.

The Snow Leopard is endangered in the wild, so Zoo breeding programs for animals like Khumbu and Samara are vital. They, and hopefully their future cubs, provide a safety-net in case wild Snow Leopards become extinct.

Taronga Zoo is open between 9.30am and 4.30 these school holidays.