First snow leopard born at Chester Zoo named

The first ever snow leopard to be born at Chester Zoo has been named.

She’s been given the beautiful name Bheri. Named after a river in Nepal, which flows through the mountains that snow leopards call home.

This video was taken back in July when she was just six weeks old:

Bheri arrived on Tuesday 10 June 2025 to first-time parents Nubra (3) and Yashin (3).

Snow leopards are classed as Vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). There may be as few as 4,000 left in the wild.

Nicknamed the “ghosts of the mountains”, these elusive big cats live in the rugged, high-altitude regions of Central Asia and the Himalayas. But even in these remote places, they’re under threat - from shrinking habitats, climate change, illegal hunting and conflict with people.

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