Clouded Leopard Kittens Make Public Debut At Zoo Miami

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Zoo Miami's 6 month old clouded leopard kittens made their official public debut Wednesday as they were put on exhibit with their mother.

"Serai," the 4 year old mother cautiously led the two female kittens, "Malee" and "Suree" onto the open-air exhibit where at first, they hesitated to enter.  After several minutes, the kittens ventured out and began to climb up the sides of the enclosure exploring the new areas.

GALLERY: Clouded Leopard Kittens Make Public Debut At Zoo Miami

It will probably take several days before the kittens are comfortable with their new surroundings but  all indications are that they are adapting well.

At this time, they are scheduled to be on exhibit on Thursday and Sunday from 10AM – 3PM.  They will be off exhibit Friday and Saturday of this week.  The schedule will be re-evaluated next week eventually leading up to daily exhibition.

In May, we saw the cubs receiving a physical exam. They were only 10 weeks old at the time.

They were born on March 9th and were held off exhibit with their mother while their exhibit went through some modifications.

Clouded leopards are very secretive cats found in forests within Southern China, Taiwan, and Malaysia.  Adults usually weigh between 30 and 50 pounds and they have a very long tail with relatively short legs and large paws to facilitate their frequent arboreal lifestyle.  Their diet includes a variety of birds and mammals including monkeys, deer, and porcupines.  Clouded leopards have the longest canine teeth relative to their size of any wild cat.  They are highly endangered over most of their range due to hunting for their attractive pelts which have ceremonial value in a variety of cultures.

These clouded leopards were also part of CBS4's in-depth special, Life and Death Inside Zoo Miami, hosted by CBS4 Investigator Jim DeFede.