A four-month-old snow leopard cub has been put down after contracting a 'serious eye condition'.
One from a litter of three born earlier this year at the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie, Scottish Highlands , was euthanised on December 13.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) which owns the park, said the young male – which hadn't yet been named – had coloboma, a "very painful" eye condition where pieces of tissue that form the eye are missing.
RZSS said surgery can help relieve pain, but an "incredibly difficult" decision was taken to put him to sleep.
The park confirmed the litter's two female cubs also have coloboma, but not to the same degree, and they will continue to monitor their health.
The RZSS confirmed the news on their Facebook page.
The post said: "We are very sad to say that our male snow leopard cub has had to be put to sleep today due to a serious eye condition.
"The four-month-old cub had coloboma, which causes vision problems and can be very painful.
"While surgery can help to relieve pain in some cases, the seriousness of his condition meant we needed to take this incredibly difficult decision following veterinary advice to ensure he did not suffer.
"We are continuing to monitor our two female cubs, who also have this eye defect though not to the same degree at this time.
"Our thoughts are with everyone who works with the cubs."
