Eddy The Black Leopard

Eddy was born here at The Wild Animal Sanctuary back in 2001.  His parents were part of a large rescue in California known as the Colton Tiger Rescue.

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The man who had this terrible facility was arrested and found guilty of criminal animal abuse and spent many years in prison.  Of the dozens and dozens of large exotic felines, there were 13 leopards found in terrible condition.

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All 13 leopards were housed in a single large enclosure and there was no contraception or birth control in place.  As such, shortly after being rescued, a small black cub was born.

 

The mother of the cub was one of the weakest and most sick leopards that was rescued, and was unable to care for her cub - so it was pulled and hand raised by Sanctuary staff. The cub was named Eddy, and subsequently grew up in the company of humans.

 

Animal Planet decided to feature Eddy's story in their series called "Growing Up..." and Eddy became rather famous.  Eddy went on to join other young leopards that were rescued and lives very happily in a large acreage habitat with them today.