Video Of The Week - Cincinnati Zoo Debuts Adorable Newborn Cheetahs
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On March 18, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ohio released the first pictures and video of its newest residents - Five adorable cheetah cubs. The cute newborns that include three males, and two females had to be born via a rare C-section surgery on March 8, due to some medical complications with their mother, five-year-old resident cheetah, Willow.
To give the mother a chance to recuperate from the delicate surgery, zoo medics are hand-rearing the premature cubs inside a special nursery. This is a difficult task given that the kittens have no active immunity. That's because cheetahs receive all their immunity in a passive manner through their mother's milk, which is currently unavailable. Hence, exposure to any germs can lead to a fatal infection. According to the zoo officials, while the young cheetahs have survived the crucial first week, it will take a full month for them to be completely out of danger.
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With just 9,000 to 12,000 cheetahs left in the wild, the majestic cats are high on the endangered species list. To try to increase their numbers, the US-based Cheetah Species Survival Plan (SSP) has partnered with zoos across the country to create a cheetah breeding program. Not surprisingly, the Cincinnati Zoo is the leader. Its successful breeding program has resulted in 73 cheetah cubs — And those numbers do not include the five newborns! We sure hope all of them make it through the first 30 days.
Resources: Cincinattizoo.org, abcnew.go.com
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1211 Comments
- majestic_tiger1over 2 yearsaww
- nyjojibu-164385366848over 2 yearsSo cute I just want to hug it a million times
- elaonorasabout 3 yearsAWWWW sooo cuTE *cuteness overload*
- shiki2310about 3 yearsI love learning about cheetahs. I have made A LOT of reports for cheetahs.
- queennonobidodoabout 3 yearsAww!!! They are so, so, so cute! Apparently, my dream in life is to own a newborn Cheetah.
- spicycarrotyover 3 yearsNothing can get cuter!
- mattchienover 3 yearsCUTE
- shiki2310about 3 yearsI know right
- nealbalmost 4 yearsI love cheetahs
- nauenalmost 4 yearsSO SO cutteeeeeeeeeeee~~~
- redpandagamer10almost 4 yearsthey are realy cute