Prepare to say, “Awww.”
A cheetah from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden just adopted a cub from Oregon.
The male cheetah cub joined his new family, which includes two other cubs and his mother, this week at a breeding facility at the Cincinnati Zoo.
The cub, which has not yet been named, was introduced to the Cincinnati nest to increase its chances of survival. The cub was an only child when he was born. This posed a problem because singleton cubs do not provide enough stimulation for cheetah mothers to breastfeed.
Luckily for the cub, Cincinnati Zoo cheetah Etosha gave birth to two cubs earlier this month. Zoo keepers hoped Etosha would care for him along with her two biological cubs when they introduced the cub.
The cub arrived in Cincinnati Monday evening and was placed in an incubator overnight to stabilize. On Tuesday he was placed in the nest box with the other cubs.
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Since then, Etosha has shown “great maternal behavior,” according to the zoo.
“The care has been observed and she is paying attention to all three cubs,” Tom Tenhundfeld, head of the zoo’s Cheetah Breeding Center, said in a news release.
He added: “It’s a good thing cheetahs can’t count!”
The zoo said they would announce the cub’s name on social media. They gave Lighthawk Conservation Flying the opportunity to name the cub as a way to thank the nonprofit for transporting him from Oregon.
This isn’t the first time a cheetah has adopted a cub at the zoo’s Cheetah Breeding Center.
“We work with the other cheetah breeding centers so that the litters are born semi-close together so that if there are crossbreeding situations, the cubs are as close to the same age as possible,” Tenhundfeld said.
In 2016, Cincinnati Zoo cheetah Kathleen adopted the most genetically valuable cheetah cub in the North American zoo population.
The cubs are not visible to the public, but visitors can see cheetahs at the Cincinnati Zoo during regular hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Cheetah Encounters take place Friday to Tuesday at 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cheetah at Cincinnati Zoo welcomes adopted cub to new family
