A newborn snow leopard, after being abandoned by its mother in the southern Ural of Russia, was recently rescued by a famous veterinarian and animal rights activist from Chelyabinsk.

Just three weeks ago, a snow leopard named Eve was born in a mobile zoo. The baby was miraculously pulled out of its mother's paws, since the snow leopard mother had a hormonal failure after birth. It killed one of its cubs, but Eve was rescued. At the shelter of Karen Dallakyan, leader of the animal protection fund "Save Me," the baby is now the main and most visited guest.

"They called the baby Eve. I have worked for 29 years and all I've fed were boys – this is a lion cub, this is a leopard and this is a tiger cub, but all males. This is the first girl, so I decided to call her Eve," said Dallakyan.

The baby got scared when it was brought to the vet. However, thanks to the professional care, Eve is alive and now gaining weight. At first, it was fed with a special probe, but now it can eat on its own. It favorite food is goat milk.

"The child had a sucking reflex. She began to suck her finger. They chose the nipples of the nursing bottle for a long time. From the fourth time, they guessed the size of the nipples – what does she like or what is convenient for her to suck," said Dallakyan.

Dallakyan became known in 2009 after rescuing a seriously ill tiger cub named Jora. The baby went through several dozen operations and became the favorite of all the residents in Chelyabinsk. Several years ago, Jora moved to a huge cattery for predatory cats in the Khabarovsk Territory, but still remembers his savior.

Like all the inhabitants of the shelter, Eve sees Dallakyan as a parent and its savior as it can easily distinguish the smell. Employees of the shelter even have to wear the work gown to feed the baby.

"We are very happy that the crisis was over, because she was very small, only five days old, when she was brought to us. Now, thank God, everything is fine. The baby's appetite is good. We are very happy," said Tatyana Vysotskaya, a volunteer at shelter. 

If negotiations with the current owners of the leopard will be successful, the shelter of Dallakyan can become a new home for Eve. For the snow leopard mother, they will have to build a new spacious enclosure.

In the coming weeks, fresh meat will appear in Eve's diet, and very soon this cub will turn into a formidable forest predator.

(Cover image via VCG)

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