Dubbo welcomes six cheetah cubs

Six healthy cheetah cubs were born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo on June 6, to mother Kyan and father Jana.

The Zoo’s cheetah breeding program first began in the 1980s.

“This Kyan’s fourth litter,” Cheetah Supervisor Jennifer Conaghan said. “Kyan is showing very positive maternal behaviour. Having so many cubs at one time is her biggest challenge, but she is being a very attentive and patient mother.”

With two to four cubs the average cheetah litter size, Conaghan said a litter of six was “pretty extraordinary”, and the largest of the 20 litters produced at the zoo to date.

The cubs will be reliant on their mother until up to 18 months of age, initially for food but also until behavioural and hunting skills have been passed on.

Picture: Jennifer Conaghan/Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.