Monarto Safari Welcome Endangered Cheetah Cubs

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: March 3, 2022 8:00 pm

The twin cheetah cubs are pictured with their mother, Kesho at the Monarto Safari Park

Photo Credit: Zoos SA

Monarto Safari Park have welcomed two cheetah cubs boosting the insurance population of Africa’s most endangered cat.

Nine year old mother Kesho welcomed her cubs in the security of an off-show den on Thursday February 24th 2022. Kesho is an experienced mother with these two cubs representing her third litter.

Keepers have been keeping watch over the new family as they bond in their den using closed-circuit TV cameras.

For now they will remain in their den before beginning to venture out in to the on-exhibit yards at around three months old.

Keeper Michelle Lloyd said the team were overjoyed with the news.

“It is so special for us to welcome Cheetah cubs, particularly because they are so vulnerable to extinction,” she said.

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“Every birth is hugely significant and gives hope for the species and their conservation in the wild.

“Kesho has been doing an amazing job. She is such a great mum and we have seen her licking and grooming the cubs and they have been feeding really well.”

At Monarto Safari Park the cubs will be afforded security, something not afforded to wild cheetah cubs.

This week The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) rescued 15 cubs from being sold into the illegal wildlife trade in eastern Somaliland. CCF vets will now nurse the cubs back to health before they are returned to the wild.

Zoos SA partner with CCF to support this life-saving work for the cheetah.

With just 6,000 remaining in the wild the cheetah is listed as vulnerable to extinction. They are impacted by human-wildlife conflict and the illegal wildlife trade.

Learn more about Cheetah here – Cheetah Fact File | The Animal Facts

Learn more about Monarto Safari Park on their website – Monarto Safari Park