Confident Cubs Make Public Appearance

Four delightful, three month old, cheetah cubs will move on display at Orana Wildlife Park tomorrow. Matata, Kanzi, Gorse and Nia (3 boys and 1 girl) have received their inoculations so are now ready to venture outside on a regular basis.

Orana’s Head Keeper of Exotic Mammals, Rob Clifford, says: “We are delighted to further contribute to the zoo-based breeding programme for cheetah. The cubs are extremely adventurous and growing quickly now that they are eating meat! Despite their healthy condition, the cubs had a rocky start to life. Their mother Mazza (5) was closely monitored by staff via cameras and experienced a very long and difficult labour. Unfortunately Mazza abandoned her new born cubs when they were only a few hours old. At that point, we made the difficult decision to intervene to ensure the cubs’ survival. Initially, our team worked around the clock providing 24 hour care during their first eight weeks of life, until we were able to space their feeds.”

Animal Keeper, Sam Jeune, is one of three keepers who raised the cubs. “They are very confident, mischievous cubs! They have so much curiosity and being typical youngsters play with everything and constantly explore their surroundings. Raising the cubs has been extremely rewarding and a great learning experience. It is great that we can now allow visitors the chance to see and learn about these beautiful animals.”

Orana Wildlife Park is renowned for its contribution to the zoo-based breeding programme for cheetah, a species classified as vulnerable (IUCN) and considered to be notoriously difficult to breed in captivity. To date, twenty cats have been raised to adulthood at Orana.

The cubs will be on display for scheduled periods during the day, subject to weather conditions.

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