Do you know that Cincinnati Zoo is one in every of 10 services which can be a part of the Cheetah Breeding Facilities Coalition? This group shares concepts about cheetah husbandry administration, breeding and analysis. These Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited breeding facilities, all members of the Cheetah Species Survival Plan (SSP), work collectively to take care of and develop a genetically numerous inhabitants of this endangered feline species in North America.
We’re proud to share that Tearza, the seven-year-old cheetah, turned a first-time mother at our breeding middle! The cubs, Amy, JJ and Dutch, are actually 8 months previous! They are going to stay on the farm (which isn’t open to the general public) with their mother for a pair years till they grow to be subadults able to sort out their very own journeys in life. Within the meantime, we’ll work with the SSP to determine what will likely be finest for every of them.
Keepers observed that cheetah cub Amy began having bother whereas consuming. When consuming too rapidly (as younger cheetahs do when excited and consuming communally with their siblings), she would regurgitate and have delicate fainting episodes, however then would get better rapidly and absolutely and eat usually afterward. She was in any other case performing effectively.
We suspected there could also be one thing flawed along with her throat or chest which may be triggered when she eats an excessive amount of too rapidly, however an preliminary examination with our veterinary tools couldn’t reveal a difficulty. We elected to carry her to MedVet the place we may do a CT scan to have a look at all the buildings in her throat and chest.
Since she was already underneath anesthesia, we additionally had an endoscopy of her esophagus carried out to search for refined adjustments. The excellent news is that we didn’t discover any main structural adjustments that might be probably life-threatening or require surgical procedure. We collected tissue biopsies of the esophagus and are nonetheless awaiting outcomes.
Within the meantime, we’ve been managing Amy by altering the feeding technique and to this point she’s carried out nice! She’s not having any regurgitation or fainting spells whereas consuming and we’ll proceed to watch her as she grows into an grownup, at which period she might “develop out” of those episodes and stay a very regular life.
