King Cheetah census

Arizona Docent said:
I think so, but am not positive. The irony (hypocrisy) is that AZA zoos all have albino or leucistic reptiles and seem to have no problem with that, but if a zoo has a white tiger they are looked down upon.
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The document on the white tiger/other color morphs ban also made mention of albino and leucistic animals in general. They take more issue with breeding than display. Do lots of zoos try to breed white alligators or something?
 
TheMightyOrca said:
Do lots of zoos try to breed white alligators or something?
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Not that I know of. Most zoos obtain their reptile colour morphs (if they keep any) from external sources (pet trade, crocodile/gator farms, animals donations, private breeders…)
 
"South Africa:
*Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre (formerly called De Wildt Cheetah Centre): does anyone know how many are here? I haven't been able to find anything apart for a recent reference saying there are thirty king cheetahs total (in the world), which would probably put De Wildt on around fifteen or twenty or so."

I would be very surprised if this Cheetah Centre held more than 5 or so at a time. When I visited in 2011 they had one cub (due to be sent to Saudi Arabia) plus one adult on display and maybe 1 or 2 other adults offshow.
 
Chlidonias said:
Japan:
*Tama Zoo: one female (Nadeshiko) born in 2011, one male (Ibuki) born in 2012, and two more (male and female) born in 2013. All four were born at Tama Zoo, I think to two different mothers (?).
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Actually there was another female king cub born along with Ibuki in 2012 to mother 'Kikyo', but she died shortly after birth.

The two king cheetahs born in 2013 are called 'Fang' and 'Anemone'. Anemone is now at Adventure World on breeding loan with her mother 'Sumire' (who is also the mother of 'Nadeshiko' born 2011).

Adventure World had one male king cheetah until about 10 years ago (I do not know exactly when it died).
 
TheMightyOrca said:
King cheetahs look pretty cool, though I've never seen one. Didn't the AZA ban its members from intentionally breeding for them, along with white tigers and certain other color mutations?
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As I understand this is the case with black leopards and black jaguars. I can see why no black leopards are bred since the AZA is focusing on Amur leopards, but why is it that black jaguars aren't being bred?
 
elefante said:
As I understand this is the case with black leopards and black jaguars. I can see why no black leopards are bred since the AZA is focusing on Amur leopards, but why is it that black jaguars aren't being bred?
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First of all, not many black jaguars are being bred anymore. The only recent births I know of are from two non AZA facilities (Wildlife World in Arizona and Cat Haven in California, though there may be others). However, I do not believe this is due to a ban. I believe it is simply due to the fact that recent imports over the last several years (and there have been many) have been of the normal yellow variety, so that is simply what is available for breeding. In certain parts of South America, melanism in jaguars is quite common, so there is no problem having a certain percentage in captivity, as that replicates nature.
 
Monarto Zoo (Australia) also now has king cheetah (the female from Taronga Western Plains Zoo for breeding).
 
Brum said:
There's one at Zoo Negara Malaysia apparently.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/...JwnC8tyLBsWd3f8o12uK0dCgp4TicgWtU9e0iQdZkw2tM
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The two cubs at the beginning of the video are normal spotted ones. King Cheetah markings are evident very early on/at birth and so there is no chance either of these might change 'later on' as the commentary suggests. So they will still have just the one 'King' at present. They would possibly get more if they bred him back to his mother though.
 
As discussed on their own news thread, LEO Conservation Centre closed down. They had the only king cheetah currently in USA. I tried to find out what happened to their cheetahs and someone in cheetah SSP heard through the grapevine that they were all sent to Virginia Safari Park (they could not confirm this since that facility is not part of SSP). I tried contacting the park via Facebook Messenger and email (a couple times each way) and they never replied. There is no mention and no photos of a king cheetah on their website or Facebook page (they do, however, show normal spotted cheetahs). So who knows what happened to it? Maybe she died or maybe she is at Virginia behind the scenes or maybe the owner of LEO kept her as a personal favorite?
 
Just now I have seen the mention in this topic of Al Wabra having one king cheetah. But many years ago (2008) when I was at Al Wabra there were for sure 2 king cheetah.
 
As mentioned in this thread: King Cheetahs! two king cheetahs (and two non king siblings) are now on display at Virginia Safari Park. Their grandmother is Mona Lisa from LEO, who is also on grounds there (but apparently not on exhibit). Based on the video I would guess the cubs are about eight months old?
 
Arizona Docent said:
As mentioned in this thread: King Cheetahs! two king cheetahs (and two non king siblings) are now on display at Virginia Safari Park. Their grandmother is Mona Lisa from LEO, who is also on grounds there (but apparently not on exhibit). Based on the video I would guess the cubs are about eight months old?
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I would very much like to know who the parents of these cubs are. Since the 'king' phenotype is recessive, it'd take two cats which carry the gene to potential produce these cubs. The only Cheetahs in the US who I know are carriers of the gene and who are also kept at Virginia Safari Park are Mona Lisa's cubs... I really hope we're not seeing inbreeding here ala white tigers and white Lions..

~Thylo
 
@ThylacineAlive well that is a good question. I doubt anyone knows how many cheetahs in the USA population actually carry the king gene. We would certainly hope they are responsible enough not to have mated her cubs (i.e. brother and sister) together.
 
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