CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden announced that one of its cheetahs, who just gave birth to two cubs earlier this month, has welcomed another cub from a different mother into its litter. 

What You Need To Know

  • The male singleton cub arrived from Oregon Monday night

  • The cub was placed in an incubator Monday night for stabilization before being placed in the nest box with the other cubs on Tuesday

  • Staff reported that the mother cheetah, Etosha, has been showing great maternal behaviors since then

The male singleton cub arrived from Oregon Monday night. 

“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 in a release. “We have successfully introduced cubs at our facility before, including the most genetically valuable cub in the North American population, and everything is going well with this intro.”

The cub was placed in an incubator Monday night for stabilization before being placed in the nest box with the other cubs on Tuesday, the zoo said. Staff reported that the mother cheetah, Etosha, has been showing great maternal behaviors since then. 

“Nursing has been observed, and she’s being attentive to all three cubs,” said Tenhundfeld in a release. “It’s a good thing that cheetahs can’t count!”

Lighthawk Conservation Flying will have the opportunity to name the cub as a thank you from the zoo, which plans to post updates on the cubs on it socials. The cubs aren't yet visible to the public, but guests can see cheetahs during regular zoo hours. 

Cheetahs are an endangered species with its population worldwide shrinking worldwide, going from about 100,000 in 1900 to around 7,000 today, according to the zoo.