Philadelphia zoo's endangered leopard plays with kid and her plush cat toy, internet melts

A leopard at a zoo in Philadelphia caught the internet’s attention after it was seen playing with the ‘cat plush toy’ during the zoo’s organized ‘Play Date’. The footage was shared out of the Philly zoo’s Instagram account. In the now-viral clip a child clad in a pink hoodie was seen playing with the ferocious cat from the other side of the glass enclosure. The zoo leopard, in the heart-melting clip, responds to the child as it pretends to put up a fight with the toy cat by scratching its paws on the glass wall each time the kid gestures movements. “I love how they stop playing when the child stops moving it! This is so adorable,” one said, admiring the clip. 

Philly’s leading family destination and one of the area’s foremost conservation organizations ‘Philadelphia zoo’ houses nearly 1,300 animals, most of whom rare and endangered. Each year, the zoo hosts more than 1.2 million visitors that visit the facility to greet animals and learn more about environmental conservation. The Philadelphia zoo also has a first-in-the-world animal travel trail system, where most species are seen meandering out in the open, Zoo360, and KidZooU, a children’s zoo and education center where, the kid in the clip, is seen playing. Children are encouraged to visit the zoo and spend time with animals to encourage them to learn about wildlife and habitat conservation as they grow. 

Internet shower love on kid-leopard connect

The zoo recently resumed operations after a temporary COVID-19 closure. The zoo had informed that the sweeping measure to ensure the protection of all of the animals, and keeping guests away so they are safe and well. The zookeepers and veterinarians continued rigorous work of providing exceptional animal care during this time. Now fully functional, children were welcomes back and were seen playing with the animals in the zoo’s event titled  Play Date. The zoo’s Amur leopard is the world’s rarest as there are fewer than 100 Amur leopards left in the wild and only 180 in captivity, Philadelphia zoo informs in a release. Commenters poured tons of favourable reactions with one saying that the kid is "gonna be a wildlife biologist." Another said, "Interactions like this is the reason people become vets and zookeepers."