Zoo Rejoices When Pregnant Cheetah Delivers Whopping Litter Of 7 Cubs For The Second Time

Feb 14, 2019

Stories about animals on the brink of extinction are unfortunately common today, and they often have heartbreaking details about a small number of animals left from a species that once thrived. This is also the case for the cheetah, which has seen its wild population slashed in size dramatically. However, there is good news to report.

The population of wild cheetahs in Africa has declined from 100,000 to a mere 7,000, according to a professional at the Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia.

Any live births of a struggling species like the cheetah is a special event, so it is not a surprise to learn that everyone was cheering when the zoo’s pregnant cheetah recently gave birth to healthy cubs.

The cheetah mom, Vaila, has now had two successful pregnancies. This was her first litter with Kalu, who is a proud father for the first time. More impressive than the fact that Vaila had a healthy litter of cubs is the number of cubs that she gave birth to.

A typical cheetah litter has three or four cubs, but Vaila had seven healthy cubs.

According to the zoo, this is a rare event that only occurs in 1 percent of cheetah pregnancies. Even more impressive is the fact that Vaila’s first litter also had seven cubs.

Altogether, the zoo has welcomed 47 new cheetahs into the world in recent years from nine successful pregnancies. This includes the 14 cheetah cubs that Vaila has given birth to.

The zoo’s team hopes to continue their effort to promote the conservation of cheetahs in Africa through their efforts and with the careful care of their cheetahs in captivity.

You can watch footage of the mother cheetah with her cute cubs here. If you have any special stories about your experiences with endangered wildlife or protecting wild animals, leave your comments below for our readers to enjoy.