St. Louis Zoo - Cheetah Cub Public Debut

In the river's edge, we're standing in front of the Cheetah Survival Center, and we're here for the preview of our cheetah family group, Bengua, the mother with her eight cubs. And this birth is really significant for two reasons. One is the fact that this is the first time in the zoo's history that a female has given birth to eight cubs. And secondly, because this birth actually represents an important addition to the cheetah population here in North America. In fact, what Bengua has done, the mother, she is the first female in over 400 litters to successfully rear a litter of eight cubs. In all of the United States? In all of North America. So we've been keeping records for over 40 years, and over 400 litters, she is the first female to successfully rear a litter of eight cubs. We have another group of cats up at Big Cat Country at the east end of the zoo, the lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards. The cheetahs were originally located at the west end of the zoo because of their behavior. We know that in the wild in Africa that cheetahs are oftentimes intimidated. They're actually predated on by the lions, hyenas, other large carnivores. So we purposely designed and built this facility here at the west end of the zoo so the cheetahs would have a little more seclusion and privacy. All the other cats are kept up at Big Cat Country. We have eight cubs, we have three males, and we have five females, and they will stay here until they're at least 18 months, between 18 months and 24 months. That's the period that they would stay with their mother until they would disperse in the wild. It's important for the cubs to stay with their siblings and their mother to learn socialization skills, they learn hunting skills, and it's really important that they stay here at least 18 months. Our cheetahs are all part of a managed population here in North America. It's called the Species Survival Plan for cheetahs. Each year we do what's called a master plan, where we look at all the individuals in the population and then based on their genetics and demographics, we'll make recommendations for transfers and breedings. Now with these kids here, we don't have to look at them for at least another year because they won't reach maturity until they're at least two to three years of age. So there's no urgency in moving them to another institution. But in the future, in about a year, year and a half or so, we will look at that and see what's best for the managed population. It's very important that over the last several weeks we've been acclimating the mother and the cubs to each of our yards here. The last habitat is the large habitat along the visitor's path here. We're really excited about having them out for our visitors in a couple of days. Everybody will be invited to come to see them, but it is an acclimation process. So we start with smaller yards in the back. If we feel that they're doing well in those yards or acclimating, then we graduate them to more yards, multiple yards, and then ultimately out into the large habitat here along our visitor pathway. She is the only female in almost 440 litters to do what she's doing. These cubs now are five months old. We will continue to monitor them closely, but so far they're doing really well. She's been very attentive. She's been an excellent mother. Worldwide, she's only one of two cheetahs in the world to successfully rear. It's what I've been able to find in the documented records. So yes, this is unique, it's remarkable, and it's very special for St. Louis. Their behavior is different than what you'd see in an adult. As they get older, they become more sedentary, and when they're young, they're active, they're energetic, they're playing, chasing. That's really important for them to develop these skills that they'll use when they become adults. So what you're going to see is a lot of movement, chasing, playing. Even the mother, even Bingua, is very playful because she's, again, you know, she's teaching them skills that they would use when they become adults. What's most important, I think, is the fact that this is a significant addition to the managed cheetah population here in North America. The population that we have actually is a genetic reserve for the counterpart cheetahs in the wild. It's really important that we maintain this genetic reserve because we know what's happening to cheetahs in the wild. Cheetahs in the wild today are considered vulnerable. There are threats, including poaching. Cheetahs are trapped, they're persecuted in the wild, and oftentimes it's because of the conflict between carnivores like cheetahs and the local people, the pastoralists that have livestock. Cheetahs will, can, and do prey on livestock. So sometimes they're trapped, sometimes they're removed, and that's why it's important that we maintain this population here in North America. Someday, if we need to supplement the genetic material in the wild, we'll have good genetic stock for that program in the future. We are a network. We're an important part of what's called the Cheetah Breeding Coalition. There are about seven or eight zoos that are part of this program. We're all very important centers that we're all working very diligently to build our population and do it correctly. So it's a network. It's a team. We do these cooperative programs. So, but I think that the fact that Bingua has basically, she's raising two litters, that's quite significant. And then someday, hopefully, these kids will then be dispersed to other zoos. They'll be paired with other individuals, and they will continue to contribute to that genetic reserve. This is a great time of the year, the spring, early summer, especially with many of our antelopes, a lot of our bird species. This is the time of the year when many of the births occur. It's also a beautiful time of year. It's one of the prettiest times here at the zoo when everything's blooming. It's a great time to come out to the zoo. But yes, there will be quite a few births that you're going to be hearing about, a lot of our important endangered antelope species, and many of the other animals here at the zoo.