Two sleek snow leopards will soon be spotted at a Leicestershire zoo.

It is hoped that female Irma and male Suou will hit it off at Twycross Zoo and that the patter of tiny paws will be heard in the near future.

The pair of endangered big cats are currently in quarantine after their respective journeys from Norden's Ark in Sweden and Tama Zoological Park in Japan.

They will eventually be moved to the zoo's new Himalayan-themed enclosure, where visitors will be able to watch them enjoy their meals.

The snow leopards, both nearly two years old, are coming to Twycross as part of an international breeding programme. They will be introduced to each other as soon as they have settled in.

The mammals are native to the mountain ranges of central and south Asia, where they live between 3,000 and 5,500 metres above sea level.

Their secretive nature means their exact numbers are not known, although it has been estimated that between 3,500 and 7,000 snow leopards exist in the wild.