Cheetah mom adopts cub into new litter
(Gray News) - A cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden who gave birth earlier this month adopted another cub from Oregon into her new litter.
The new mom, Etosha, gave birth to two cubs at the zoo’s off-site breeding facility.
The zoo says cheetahs that give birth to one cub typically can’t provide enough milk to keep it alive, so the singleton cub was added to Etosha’s litter.
“We coordinate with the other cheetah breeding centers, so litters are born semi-close together so that if cross fostering situations arise the cubs are as close to the same age as possible,” said Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s Cheetah Breeding Center head keeper Tom Tenhundfeld.
Since the cub was added, zookeepers say they’ve seen Etosha nursing and being attentive to all three cubs.
The zoo says cheetahs remain endangered, with only an estimated population of 7,000 worldwide.
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