Overview
- Amabala delivered four cubs on Oct. 17–18 at NZCBI’s Front Royal, Virginia, campus, with the births announced Nov. 15 after the zoo reopened.
- Keepers report the newborns are strong, active, vocal and eating well, and the first-time mother is caring for them successfully.
- Staff are maintaining a hands-off approach and monitoring the family via the public Cheetah Cub Cam, the site’s fifth litter to be streamed.
- The cubs’ father is Flash, an 8-year-old cheetah designated as genetically valuable within the managed North American population.
- This is the 20th cheetah litter at the Front Royal campus, which participates in a 10-center coalition with the AZA as cheetahs remain vulnerable with roughly 6,500–7,500 adults in the wild.