Orphaned cheetah cub joins Zoo's nursery

There's a new little face in the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's nursery: A five-week-old cheetah cub.

The cub was unable to receive care from his mother at Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. He was born there just 12 days before the Cincinnati Zoo delivered five cubs via a rare C-section at Mast Farm, its regional cheetah breeding facility in Clermont County, on March 8.

One of those cubs, the male runt of the litter, died last week, zoo officials said. Their mother, five-year-old Willow, also did not survive.

The other four premature cubs – two males and two females – are still under critical care in the zoo's nursery. Officials from Wildlife Safari and the Cincinnati Zoo agreed that it would benefit the lone cub to join the Cincinnati four and Blakely, the nursery dog/nanny.

“Socialization and companionship, ideally with other cheetahs, is important at this age," Christina Gorsuch, curator of mammals at the Cincinnati Zoo, said in a news release.

It will be a week or two before the zoo's four cubs can be introduced to the older cub.

“He’s stronger and much larger than the other cubs," Gorsuch said. "We will supervise initial visits and ease him into the mix."

Nursery and vet staff are working to help the younger cubs gain weight and make it past the one-month milestone, a critical point for their survival. They will remain in the nursery for at least four more weeks. Though zoo visitors may get a peek at them through the nursery windows, some of their care will take place out of public view.

All five cubs are expected to become ambassadors for their species, the fastest on earth. Two males will move to another zoo, while the other three cheetahs will stay in Cincinnati as part of the zoo's Cat Ambassador Program.

Cheetahs are endangered, with their population estimated at 9,000 to 12,000 worldwide. (That's compared with approximately 100,000 in 1900.) Their breeding in captivity is planned and monitored carefully. The Cincinnati Zoo and Wildlife Safari are among the nine institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that take part in a cheetah Breeding Center Coalition, which works closely with the Cheetah Species Survival Plan (SSP).