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What's New at the National Zoo?
Sisters Nababiep, 3, front, and Shera, 2, explore their new habitat. The zoo also has a newly acquired male lion, Luke, 1, for a total of four.
(By Jacquelyn Martin -- Associated Press)
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As zoo officials were dealing with the aftermath of the escape, they were also introducing a media contingent to three new arrivals: lions from South Africa, housed about three-quarters of a mile from the leopards. Beginning today, the public can view the lions, which number four, together with the one the zoo had already.
Clouded leopards, named for the cloud-like spots that mark their soft, gray fur, are among the best climbers in the cat family, according to the zoo's Web site. They can climb branches upside down or climb down from trees head-first, like squirrels.
The smallest of the "big cats," clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth relative to body size. This seems to support scientists' belief, based on DNA evidence, that the clouded leopard is related to the famed saber-tooth cat of prehistory.
The clouded leopard population in the wild is thought to be fewer than 10,000 and declining. The cat is native to parts of Southeast Asia.
Gibbons said it was no surprise that Mook did not venture far.
"Most animals know where they're most secure, and she associates that exhibit with security," he said in an interview on Washington Post Radio. "How she got on the wrong side of the fence -- that's something for us to look at."
Staff writers Paul Schwartzman and Martin Weil contributed to this report.
