An aging clouded leopard named Moby was euthanized at Zoo Atlanta Friday, following a sharp decline in his health.
Moby, 16, came to Zoo Atlanta in 2004 from the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, N.Y. He was born in captivity at the Buffalo Zoo.
Veterinarians at Zoo Atlanta had been treating the big cat for health problems related to his age, zoo officials said. In captivity, the clouded leopard has an average lifespan of 11 years and Moby was already headed toward middle age when he arrived in Atlanta.
Gorgeously marked with black and dark gray spots and polygons, Zoo Atlanta’s solitary Moby had the look of a leopard redesigned by a SCAD student.
The clouded leopard isn’t directly related to the common leopard, but is part of the same subfamily, Pantherinae. They are native to Southeast Asia and the foothills of the Himalayas, and are listed as vulnerable, due to deforestation.
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