Editor's Note: Lynn Tupa is Curator of Mammals at the Albuquerque Biological Park. For the last 10 years she has also kept the North American Regional Snow Leopard Studbook. What is a studbook and what does its keeper do, you wonder? We recently asked Lynn to tell us a bit more about her work, and she amazed us with all of the interesting details that the studbook holds.

What is a Snow Leopard Studbook and why is it needed?
Well, actually there are two Snow Leopard Studbooks. The International Studbook is kept by Leif Blomqvist at the Helsinki Zoo, and I keep the North American Regional Studbook. The Regional Studbook keeps track of all the snow leopards in North American zoos, from the first snow leopards imported into North America in 1903 to the current living population. The studbook helps us make decisions on where the cats should be placed in zoos, and which cats should breed together. It also tells us how long the cats are living in zoos, and how many cubs are being born and surviving to adulthood. Most importantly it tells us how successful we have become in managing this species in captivity.

What does the job of studbook keeper involve?
Every year in June I send out a letter to all zoos holding snow leopards, requesting an update on all of the cats that they have at their institution—any births, deaths, or transfers of snow leopards from one institution to another. Then I enter the data in the Single Population Analysis and Record Keeping System (SPARKS) database. This program allows us to look at the history of an individual snow leopard, to help us determine which cat it should be paired up with for breeding.

How do you and the International Snow Leopard Studbook Keeper collaborate?
I send all updates that I have to Leif Blomqvist for his records. At the end of the year we compare to make sure we both have the same information. I record all the North American births with temporary studbook numbers, but Leif is in charge of assigning them with their official studbook number. Once we compare our data, we send it to ISIS (International Species Information System), to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) studbook library, and to Jay Tetzloff, the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan Coordinator for North America.

How long have you been keeping the studbook? How did you get the job?
I’ve been the Regional Snow Leopard Studbook Keeper for 10 years now. To become a studbook keeper I had to apply to the Felid Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) expressing my interest in becoming the snow leopard studbook keeper, and I had to provide a letter from my institution supporting my request to become a studbook keeper.

How much time does being the Studbook Keeper require in a year?
When I first began 10 years ago, it took a lot of time to organize the data because many cats had never been entered. But now, since I’m just updating new information, it takes maybe 30 hours a year. In June I make all the requests from zoos for updates on births or deaths of the cats, and then in the fall I publish the Studbook. It can still take time to format and copy all the data.

Who decides which cats should be bred together and how are these decisions made?
There is a group of cat experts from several zoos who make up the Snow Leopard Steering Committee. Based on the information from the studbook, they are able to run a computer program that determines which cats would be the best genetic matches. They also factor in the wishes of the zoos that hold the cats, and each cat’s temperament, age, and health. The committee tries to ensure that their breeding decisions will maintain 98% of the genetic diversity in the current captive snow leopard population for the next 100 years.

How long can snow leopards live in captivity?
Now they can live to be 18 to 20. But if you look back at the studbook, you can see that in the early 1900s the cats only lived a year or two and then died. That was mainly because of inappropriate diet and holding facilities. In the 1970s they started to live longer and longer. That can be attributed to better diet with all the necessary nutrients and better holding facilities that give them some exercise.

How many cats are there in the captive breeding program?
One hundred and ninety-two—140 of these 61 AZA-accredited zoos, and the remaining 52 are in 15 non-AZA-accredited zoos. In addition to these cats, some private breeders and zoo owners have snow leopards but do not communicate with us, so we can't track those cats and they are not part of the captive breeding program.

How many snow leopards have been born in North America? How many are born each year?
The studbook records 1,225 snow leopard births since 1903—550 males, 586 females, and 89 unknowns. It varies a lot, but on average in the last five years, 18 cubs have been born in North America. Zoos have learned a lot over the years about snow leopard care that has helped them breed in captivity and have successful births. Proper diet, as mentioned above, helps them stay healthy and able to carry young. Also, providing a nest box or small den for the pregnant females helps them feel safe. Introducing males and females to each other slowly has also helped in breeding success. We now wait for positive signs of interaction like rubbing on the cage mesh separating the two, and sitting next to each other before putting them together. If two cats are hissing and spitting at each other, it is not time to put them together! Even though in the wild they are solitary, I’ve found that most of the cats I’ve worked with really form a pair bond and like to stay together!

Are all cubs named? How do they get their names?
Based on the studbook, I would say just about every snow leopard has a name. Most animals are named by the keepers or the staff at the zoo where they are born. It seems most names are from locations or local dialects from areas where snow leopards live in the wild.

What is your full time job? How long have you had your current job?
Currently I am the Curator of Mammals at the Albuquerque Biological Park; I started here 7 years ago as the Assistant Curator. I started my career in the zoo field in 1985 as an intern at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. I stayed there a year as a keeper in the Small Mammal House and then moved to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago in 1987 as a keeper. There I worked in the Small Mammal House, The Lion House, Hoofstock, Seals and Sea Lions, Reptile/Small Mammal House, and Farm In The Zoo. In the 15 years I was there I went from Keeper to Senior Keeper to Area Supervisor for all of those areas 1 time or another.

As Curator of Mammals, what does your job involve?
I oversee the care of the mammals here at the zoo, which includes making sure that they receive proper diets and that their exhibits and holding areas are properly maintained, working with the veterinarians when medical issues arise, providing the animals enrichment on a daily basis, training the keepers how to train the animals, and arranging for the transfer of animals to and from the zoo.

What kind of enrichment do you provide the snow leopards?
We give them enrichment every day and it can be anything from providing new scents in their exhibit, to cardboard boxes with food inside, balls to play with, hammocks that they love to sleep in, and—one of their favorites—papier mache with meat inside! They love it!

You mention that part of your full time job involves training keepers how to train the mammals. What does this involve?
When I started as a keeper over 20 years ago, we never trained animals to help us with their care. But now, the training we do with them is so cool! When you first start training an animal they don’t understand what you are asking. But once they get it, you see a light go on and they offer all kinds of behaviors. You start out with the simple behavior of touching a target, which can be any object, and from there you can then teach the animal to stand, to present an arm or leg, belly, any body part you want. It’s the best part about being a keeper, and the animals learn to trust you because it is positive, and voluntary. It has become such an important tool in managing the animals because the training can save the animals’ lives. For example, we had a gorilla that was pregnant and the training enabled us to do an ultrasound on her belly. Later, after the baby was born, we were concerned that it had a herniated umbilical cord. Because of the training we did earlier, we were able to train her to hold the baby outside of the cage so we could get a better look at it, and find that it was not anything to be worried about. I also recently read about a similar thing happening at the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Michigan, with a pregnant snow leopard. An ultrasound revealed that she was carrying two cubs, so later, when she only gave birth to one cub and then started to bleed later in the day, the zoo team performed a Caesarean section and were able to save both the mother and the cub.

What is your favorite part of this work?
It would have to be the interactions with the animals. Unless the animals are small, we do not go in the cages with the animals, but we still are able to develop relationships with them. Especially with the training that the keepers are doing, it makes developing the relationships that much easier.

I've also had the opportunity to hand raise some babies when their mothers rejected them. We try to allow mothers to raise their own babies whenever possible, but when we do have to hand-raise animals, it is an amazing experience. I have hand-raised cheetahs, armadillos, porcupines, shrews, and siamangs in my home, and I even took a gorilla home for a year and have had a camel in my backyard!

Do you have a favorite snow leopard? Do you have a favorite story about a snow leopard?
My favorite snow leopard was a female named Yiet Yang, whom I worked with at the Lincoln Park Zoo. We got her when she was about a year old and she was so beautiful and playful. She would always act so tough when you first came in to check on her in the morning, snarling and hissing. But if you sat down and were quiet, she’d come over and start rubbing against the bars and would want to play. She was such a good mother to her litters of cubs; it was really fun watching them grow up.
 
What are your hopes for snow leopards in the future?
My hope isn’t just for snow leopards, it’s for all animals. I hope there will always be a place in the wild for them to live out their life, without the threat of being hunted by man or their habitat being taken over. If everyone had the opportunity to see a snow leopard, gorilla, or a tiger up close, and to look into their eyes, they would see how special these animals are.