Our four cheeky Cheetah cubs are growing bigger every day and delighting keepers with their playful personalities.
And we’re pleased to announce they now have some adorable names to match!
After receiving more than 600 votes as part of our Cheetah cub naming competition, four African-inspired names have been found to be the perfect fit for our gorgeous cubs.
The names for the three sweet girls are Kuishi (survive), Mapenzi (love) and Mara (spotted), while the little boy is called Thumani (precious).
The feisty foursome have been busy meeting visitors as part of our behind the scenes Cheetah Experience and will make their public debut soon.
Born on Monday, 21 May, the cubs are exciting new additions to the zoo family and mark the second litter in two years for their mum, Kesho.
Classified as vulnerable to extinction in the wild, Cheetahs are in a bit of trouble with numbers of the animal in eastern and south-western Africa scarily low.
With only 6,700 Cheetah estimated to be left in the wild, our cubs have a bright future ahead of them as part of the breeding program working to secure the future of this majestic big cat species.
Five-year-old Kesho was born at Monarto Zoo in 2012 as part of Zoos SA’s cheetah breeding program, while six-year-old Saadani was born in the Netherlands and arrived in South Australia in 2014.
Race into Monarto Zoo soon and meet the four cubs in our Cheetah Experience before they make their public debut!