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IT WAS a moment to behold as the baby Amur leopard cub emerged slowly from her den.

The 12-week-old female cub took her time to follow her mother into their new enclosure at Marwell Wildlife.

Five-year-old mum Kaia bounded straight in and onto rocks to assess the area before calling out to her newborn.

Special attention was given to her first outing, following the zoo's devastating loss in 2006 when another Amur leopard cub was killed by its father.

Marc Fox, head zookeeper for the carnivore section, said: "She's the first birth to this female.

"We have had three before.

"Obviously the loss of the cub in 2006 was devastating at the time, but with this species being critically endangered every cub is really important and celebrated.

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"She is quite feisty which we would expect. She takes after her mum quite well in that way."

Three names have been out forward for the cub - Kanika, Odessa and Rayna - and A competition has been launched for the public to vote for their favourite name online at marwell.org/leopardcub