Earlier this month, five cheetah cubs were born via caesarean section, a rarelyperformed procedure in these big cats. Tragically, their mother died just weeks after the operation. However, all isnot lost for the young cubs, as the zoos resident dog, an Australian shepherd called Blakely, has stepped in as their surrogate parent.
Willow, the mother cheetah, gave birth to two male and three female cubs at theCincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens Cheetah Breeding Facility on March 8. On March 22, the zoo announcedthat she had passed away after struggling to recover from the surgery.
Caretakers at the zoo’s nursery have been providingmuch-needed critical care to the young cubs. As Dr. Mark Campbell, the zoos director of animal health, explained to the BBC, carnivores bornvia caesareansection need a lot of extra care and attention. Their bodies have not yet developed an active immune system, instead relying on their mothers antibodies in the milk. Withweak immune systems, their carers need to stay extremely cautious ofhygiene.
Blakely the dog is also playing a part in their rehabilitation.As head nursery keeper Dawn Strasser explains, Blakely will help these cubs get tofighting strength: His first job is to let the cubs climb on him, which they did as soon as they were put together. They need the exercise to build muscle tone and get their guts moving.
Look who’s eyes are starting to open! #CloseEnoughToCare #WildWednesday https://t.co/AYdfQLNFXT pic.twitter.com/QimaSZl5tK
Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) 23 March 2016
Visitors of the zoo will be able to catch the odd glimpse of the cubs through the window of the nursery. However, the cubswill spend most of the next few months being cared for in private.
The zoos breeding facility has welcomed the birthof 54 cheetah cubs since it opened in 2002, which is good newsconsidering cheetahs are endangered and continueto face huge threats in the wild. According to Cincinnati Zoo, there could be as few as 9,000 cheetahs worldwide, compared to about 100,000 over 100years ago.
This is only the third C-section I have been involved in during my 25-year career at the Cincinnati Zoo, saidDr. Campbellin a statement before the mother died.The decision to do the procedure is complicated and involved discussion amongst the veterinary, curatorial and keeper staff.”
He added: “Important benchmarks for survival of these cubs are the first week and month of life.
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