Dedicated animal keepers are working around the clock to hand-raise four, seven day old, Cheetah cubs at Orana Wildlife Park.
Orana Wildlife Park staff saved four tiny Cheetah cubs last week from certain death by choosing hand-raise the animals, owing to an inexperienced, first time Cheetah mother. Cheetah are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity and cubs have a 95% mortality rate in the wild. Orana's cubs carry the most significant bloodlines in the region.
"These cubs are tiny, precious, little critters that would not have survived had we not made the decision to intervene and hand-raise them. Although all is going well at the moment, their lives could still be in the balance" says Orana's Chief Executive, Lynn Anderson.
A few hours after giving birth last Thursday, mother Kura (aged four) suddenly began taking the cubs out of the den and leaving them for periods in the open. Six hours elapsed since the cubs were fed.
"We conversed with the most successful Cheetah breeding facility in the world, before making the decision to pull the cubs. Additionally, the weather forecast was to drop to one degree overnight and we were advised that if we didn't intervene, the cubs would not survive so we made the only decision we could - to save the animals" adds Lynn.
Orana's Animal Collection Manager, Ian Adams, says the Park does not normally hand-raise animals: "It is extremely labour intensive and we only do it when there are no other options. Two staff currently work twelve hour shifts feeding and monitoring the cubs. But these cats are vital for the breeding programme so we had to give them the best possible chance to survive."
Park staff had been eagerly planning for the cubs' arrival and had even purchased expensive specialist milk powder from overseas in case Kura did not mother them. The cubs are therefore the culmination of a long term planning effort and a lot of teamwork.
"All of our team deserves credit for the birth of the animals. Cheetah are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity so it is nice to prove that it can be done. In fact Orana has experienced breeding success with three Queens over the years now! These animals will be important for the regional breeding programme in the future" adds Ian.
Orana is the only New Zealand zoo currently breeding Cheetah as part of the international breeding programme. Orana last produced Cheetah cubs five years ago and Kura was herself one of the last litter. The father of the new cubs, Jonah (four), was transferred from Cango Wildlife Ranch (South Africa) last year. International comparisons show that these cubs had excellent birth weights, particularly for a litter of four cubs from a first time mother.
Head Keeper of Exotic Mammals, Graeme Petrie, is one of the staff members hand-raising the animals and currently works 6pm to 6am shifts monitoring the little cats: "It is great that such young cats have produced offspring as this is a positive sign for the future. The cubs are absolutely great to work with and I feel very privileged" adds Graeme.
Cheetah are a flagship conservation species for Orana and to date eleven cats have been raised to adulthood (plus the four new cubs). This is a significant achievement as only a small number of zoos worldwide have experienced repeated breeding success with these big cats.
Ms Anderson says the Park has invested significant resources to manage the species over the years so it is rewarding to have cubs: We currently hold eleven adult Cheetah and have fourteen Cheetah exhibits (most of which are behind the scenes). Another female will be transferred from South Africa later this year!"
"As a registered charitable trust, we must separately fundraise for all animal transfers. In the past two years, we have transferred four Cheetah from South Africa, all of which bring important new bloodlines to this region. We take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Josef Langer Charitable Trust and the Eureka Trust for their generous grants that enabled the transfer of those four cats and ultimately resulted in the birth of these beautiful babies" adds Lynn.
The cubs will remain off-display for some time, but visitors will be able to view footage of them on a large screen in visitor reception.
