Five cheetah cubs were born on 5 October at the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, and all five are healthy and lively. Smithsonian Magazine reports that they were clambering over their mother within a day.
She is Zura, a five-year-old first-time mother who keepers say has been calm and attentive, barely leaving the den. The father is nine-year-old Flash. The institute is closed to visitors, but its Cheetah Cub Cam lets anyone look in on the den. Viewers can expect eyes to open within a week, and in three or four weeks the cubs should start following Zura outside.
The litter takes the institute to 90 cheetah births. It is one of ten centres that pair animals by genetics, health and temperament under a shared breeding plan, which matters for a species whose wild numbers have fallen steeply. As curator Adrienne Crosier puts it: “Every cheetah that’s born is an ambassador for its species.”
Source: Smithsonian Magazine