"Snowball" Gets Physical Therapy

On May 13, the Toronto Zoo welcomed two new snow leopard cubs, born to three-year-old mother Jita and father Pemba. They call snow leopard cubs "snowballs." The firstborn and larger of the two cubs, a female, appeared to have trouble using her front paws. A health check showed no broken bones or missing ligaments, so it seems that her paws or the nerves running to them were just very weak. The zoo brought in a veterinarian who is an expert in rehabilitation, who set up a physiotherapy regimen for the cub.  

Three months later, the as-yet-unnamed cub is showing a lot of improvement! With daily therapy and exercise, she has learned how to make her paws work the way leopard paws should. If this cub had been born in the wild, she might not have survived to grow up. This snowball is in good hands.