SEATTLE — Woodland Park Zoo officials in Seattle say a male snow leopard cub born with multiple severe heart defects has been euthanized while two other siblings have undergone surgery to help correct eyelid defects.
The zoo’s Dr. Darin Collins said Thursday the prognosis for the two surviving 6-week-old female cubs is good.
The three rare cubs were born May 2. A cardiac ultrasound on the male cub showed heart defects that were causing early heart failure.
Collins said all three cubs were born with eyelid defects — a malformation in which a portion of the eye structure is lacking.
The cubs’ father was born with the defect but his first litter of two cubs with the same mother was born healthy and normal. The condition has been seen in snow leopards at other zoos.
The snow leopard is an endangered species.
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