Did you know that the Cincinnati Zoo is one of 10 facilities participating in the Coalition of Cheetah Breeding Centers?This group shares ideas for cheetah management, breeding and research. These Aquarium and Zoo Association (AZA) Accredited Breeding Centers are all members of the Cheetah Species Survival Program (SSP) to maintain and grow genetically diverse populations of this endangered feline in North America. are cooperating with
We are proud to announce that Tiaza, a 7-year-old cheetah, became the first mother at our breeding center. Baby Amy, JJ and Dutch are now 8 months old. They live with their mothers on farms (closed to the public) for several years until they are subadults ready to tackle their life journey. In the meantime, we will work with her SSP to determine what works best for each of them.
The keepers noticed that baby cheetah Amy was starting to have trouble eating. She would vomit if she ate too quickly (as when a young cheetah gets excited and eats with her siblings) and had an episode of mild fainting, but soon made a full recovery and ate normally thereafter. Otherwise she was doing well.
We suspected that there was something wrong with her throat or chest that could be triggered by her eating too much too quickly, but initial tests with our veterinary equipment revealed no problems. could not clarify. We took her to her MedVet where she decided to do a CT scan to see all the structures in her throat and chest.
Since she was already under anesthesia, an endoscopy of the esophagus was also performed to look for subtle changes. Fortunately, no major structural changes that could be life-threatening or require surgery were found. We have taken a tissue biopsy of the esophagus and are currently awaiting results.
In the meantime, we’ve managed Amy by changing her feeding strategy and so far she’s been doing great. She has not had any gagging or fainting attacks during her meals. We will continue to monitor her until she grows into adulthood, by which time she may “outgrow” these symptoms and live a completely normal life.