TORONTO, ON, Friday, January 28, 2022: Your Toronto Zoo is excited to announce the arrival of three beautiful cheetah cubs born Monday January 24! Emarah, a 4.5-year-old female cheetah and first-time mom, gave birth in the early hours of the morning after a 92-day pregnancy.
In preparation for cubs, the Wildlife Care team set up a maternity den for Emarah, selecting a quiet space in the cheetah house and furnishing it with a large nestbox lined with a thick layer of bedding. Emarah began exhibiting signs of labour on Sunday, including restlessness and lack of appetite. The team monitored the labour using video cameras in her habitat to ensure her privacy. She gave birth to her first cub just after 3:30 am, followed by a further three cubs over the next few hours. Unfortunately, one of the cubs did not survive, but the remaining cubs appear to be doing well and have been observed nursing and wriggling around close to their mother. When cheetah cubs are born, their eyes are closed, and it will be about a week before they begin to open them to have a look around. During this time we minimize disturbances to give mother and cubs time to bond. The cameras allow the team to monitor Emarah and her new family as she navigates her maternal duties for the first time, and we are pleased to say she is doing very well – a real natural mom! She has been very attentive and has been seen grooming and nursing the cubs, both of which of which are excellent signs for a first-time mother. She also has been comfortable enough to start leaving the den to feed and to stretch her legs.
Unless there is cause for concern, it will be a few weeks before the vets will do their first full quick check on the cubs. Until they are fully vaccinated and the weather warms up, the new family will remain cozy in their indoor habitat; once they are several months old, we will introduce them to the outdoor habitats, including the main cheetah exhibit where guests will be able to visit them.
Emarah was part of the last cheetah litter born at the Toronto Zoo. While her brothers and sister have moved to other accredited zoos as part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Emarah remained in Toronto . Emarah and her new family are important as her genes are not widespread in Cheetah populations in accredited Zoos. The SSP makes recommendations to best manage the cheetahs in our care. These cubs represent that next step in terms of preserving these important genes to ensure they are protected for the future.
In addition to conservation research, the Toronto Zoo team supports cheetahs in the wild through partnerships with the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Cheetah populations in the wild are declining rapidly, with estimates putting the world population at somewhere around 7000. The primary threats to cheetahs in the wild are the poaching of cheetah cubs to meet demand for illegal pets and human wildlife conflict. You can support Emarah and other threatened cheetahs in the wild by making a donation to the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy, or through the Adopt an Animal program.
You most certainly know Zoo de Beauval’s Giant Panda Cubs Huanlili and Yuandudu! But did you know that other "panda" twins were born in Beauval last summer? They are Kamala and Nuo, 2 young red pandas (who are brother and sister)! A look back at their first months in episode 2 of the zoo’s series Un Oeil en Coulisse!
It has been six months of Omo goodness, so Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is taking a little trip down memory lane AND showing you some new up-close Omo footage. Spoiler alert: incoming Omo window boops.
From watching Zambezi embrace motherhood for the first time with such a gentle nature to seeing Omo wild out in the pools, and every nap, plop and ear wiggle in between, it's been a joy sharing these two with you all. Happy six-month birthday, Omo!
Happy 1st birthday to Woodland Park Zoo’s littlest gorilla girl! She’s the one with the birthday, Saturday January 29, but YOU get the gift of this delightful little mashup featuring some of Zuna’s (and half-brother Kitoko’s) best moves!
Get the scoop on this little love: https://bit.ly/BirthdayGirlZuna
To learn more about WPZoo's youngsters, visit: https://www.zoo.org/growingupgorilla
To learn more about how you can help protect endangered gorillas, check out https://www.zoo.org/savinggorillas
Monarto Safari Park in Australia has some pawsome news! Five African lion cubs have been born to African Lioness Husani. 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
The cubs arrived late on Monday night into Tuesday morning with Husani inside the birthing den at Monarto Safari Park.
A 'den cam' captured the moment of each arrival with the firstborn getting a ride on mum's tail!
It will be a while before the cubs are out and about in exhibit as for now they are left to bond with mum and fill their tums with milk. 🍼
Keeping staff, everyone at Zoos SA and YOU will be over the moon - Husani and her fab five will, in the not too distant future, enjoy roaming in hectares of plains – safe and sound with the rest of the pride. However, lions in their native Africa face a very different future with their population decreasing due to indiscriminate killing, habitat loss, and trophy hunting.
It is therefore imperative that breeding programs like the one at Monarto Safari Park exist – they are pivotal to securing the future of this beautiful species.
The latest videos from the Zoo Rostock nursery in the polarium shows that the two little polar bears born November 14, 2021 are becoming more and more agile. However, their first steps are still very clumsy. It will probably take a little longer before they can run and romp around!
A female giraffe calf was born in Schönbrunn Zoo on Sunday afternoon. Great concern quickly mixed with the joy: the first-time mother Fleur has been reluctant to let her offspring drink. “The birth went quickly and without complications, which is anything but a matter of course. Unfortunately, Fleur still keeps her young animal at a distance and only nurses it very irregularly," explains Eveline Dungl, the responsible zoological department head. “For Fleur it is the first offspring. Unfortunately, inexperienced mothers often find themselves overwhelmed with rearing in the wild. Unfortunately, especially with first-time mothers, there is never a guarantee that everything will go well from the start.”
Keepers at ZSL London Zoo have confirmed that their adorable tiger cub, born on 12 December, is a boy! He's getting stronger and more independent every day and is becoming quite a little explorer, climbing anything that he can find!
He's also got a big voice on him already and isn't afraid to tell mum Gaysha when he is ready for a meal or wants some attention. He's no longer a fan of her carrying him around and making all the decisions - you can hear him objecting about her cramping his style! Gaysha takes no notice of his defiance though as she still knows what is best for him!
Gaysha and dad Asim have been perfect parents and, now that they are living as a family group, Asim has been seen taking on bath time and babysitting duties.
If you're a Member, Patron, or Fellow of London Zoo, keep an eye on your inbox for your chance to choose his final name!
Visit the Zoo to see if you can spot him: zsl.org/booktickets