Pittsburgh Zoo Tackles Training Amur Leopard Cub

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- They're commands you know if you have a pet: up, down, sit. But this is a little different than training a domesticated dog.

"The minute we get anything even close, we reward her and then build from there. You build your behaviors," said lead mammal keeper Kathy Suthard.

Suthard is working with Katie, a full grown African lioness. Suthard explains that this training helps in higher stress situations, like when the animal needs to be seen by a vet.

"At this point, Diane is reaching in and petting her tail. That's how we get her to voluntarily allow us to take blood from the vein in her tail," she said.

At 16, Katie is well-trained. But staffers have a new task at hand: training a 9-month-old leopard cub.

Candy, a 13-year-old Amur leopard works to set an example. Even though Candy is wary around KDKA cameras, she still responds to training. But her 9-month-old cub, Simba, hissed in the corner.

"She's never seen this apparatus before, she's never seen either one of you and it's in her nature to be suspicious because it could save her life in the wild," Suthard said.

Simba was so nervous, we had to leave our camera in the room and step outside to see if she would warm up.

Part of the training for these animals is getting them used to strangers and new experiences. While Candy is food motivated and would work with strangers in the room, Simba is still learning and gaining confidence.

"It's good to have strangers in here because if the existence is sterile, everything is going to be frightening. But if new stimulus comes in and you get over it, you learn from that," Suthard said.

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