Bronx Zoo introduces Sarka, a four-month-old snow leopard cub

A snow leopard cub named Sarka is drawing visitors to New York's Bronx Zoo, where she is on view with her mother, Dari.

Born on May 31 to Dari and father Moutig, she is the eighth snow leopard currently living at the zoo.

Keith Lovett, the zoo's director of animal programs, said that as a single cub, Sarka sticks closer to her mother than cubs from larger litters, which tend to play together.

"She's very curious. She jumps around her habitat, but she's checking in with her mother a little bit more," Lovett said.

The zoo first exhibited snow leopards in 1903 and has had more than 80 cubs born since then. Lovett said the births help raise awareness of threats to snow leopards and support a breeding program coordinated through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to maintain genetic diversity.

The zoo's parent organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, also works to protect snow leopards in the wild in Mongolia and Afghanistan.

The snow leopard is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 remain in the wild across Asia, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Camera: Hussein Al Waaile / Production, Writing and Editing: Claudia Alizo/Reuters