Snow leopard's adorable reaction to pumpkin after wildlife park gives her spooky treat

A snow leopard at Tanganyika Wildlife Park had a fright when pumpkins were placed into her enclosure, and she didn't know how to react. Halloweenis fast approaching, and it seems like the animals at the wildlife park are celebrating as well, as some have been given pumpkins to play with as a treat. And, of course, to film their hilarious reactions.

In the adorable viralvideo, Juno pushed a pumpkin off a rock, and when it tumbled down, she seemed to watch it fall with disinterest, unbothered by its final destination. However, in the clip after, her reaction was side-splittingly good.

The pumpkin lay still on the ground, and Juno randomly dived up into the air, kicking her legs back - much like a domestic cat would if they saw a cucumber behind them.

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Why do cats of all sizes have this reaction? Cornell Feline Health Centre's Behaviourist Specialist, Dr Pamela Perry, explained that often, the cats are "reacting to the sudden appearance of a novel object".

So, they're jumping, because this is something they haven't seen before, and suddenly, it's just... there.

Next, Juno approached the pumpkin, going on her back with her paws out, and held the pumpkin between her paws, seeming to attack it.

She then decided to retreat back, jumping in the air as she did, running away from the pumpkin.

Then, she could be seen almost hugging the pumpkin, when suddenly, she decides she's not a fan anymore, and pushes the vegetable away from her, jumping as she goes.

Juno then rolled the pumpkin around and seemed to be having good fun with it.

In another clip, she simply jumped over the pumpkin with ease after analysing it for a little while.

The wildlife park captioned the video: "Juno the snow leopard appears to have a love/hate relationship with pumpkins."

In the comments, someone wrote: "Cats are cats at any size". "Proof that big cats are still cats," another added.

Cats Protection shares that all cats, from our own pet moggies to lions and tigers, belong to the same family of animals; the Felidae family.

These animals first began to evolve 25 million years ago. They have become the most highly developed carnivorous hunters of all the mammals.

The oldest cat lineage is the Panthera, which split from its common ancestor 10.8 million years ago. This is the line our modern-day big cats have evolved from, including:

• Tigers (Panthera tigris)
• Panthers (Panthera pardus)
• Lions (Panthera leo)

The Felidae family continued to evolve and branch off into different common ancestors until 3.4 million years ago. This is when the Felis genus appeared. This group includes:

• The wildcat (Felis silvestis)
• The jungle cat (Felis chaus)
• Our own domestic cats (Felis catus)

Our own cats, who we keep as pets, are most closely related to Felis silvestris lybica, also known as the African wildcat. As they separated into different species relatively recently, their genetic makeup is almost identical.

Our domestic cats and tigers shared a common ancestor around 10.8 million years ago. They also share 95.6% of their DNA, which is wild.

So, snow leopards are a lot more similar to your own cat than you think!