WINSTON, Ore. – For the first time in over two years, there’s a new litter of cheetah cubs at a southern Oregon wildlife park.
Wildlife Safari opened in 1972 and is the only drive-through animal park in the state of Oregon. There are over 500 animals in the facility that covers more than 400 acres south of Roseburg.
While the park hosts dozens of different species, it’s also the second-most successful cheetah breeding center in the world. Wildlife Safari breeds cheetahs in a partnership with the Association of Zoo and Aquarium’s Species Survival Plan. Cubs born at the park have been sent to zoos across the United States in an effort to add to the genetic diversity of the captive cheetah population.
While the park usually sees between two and three cheetah litters per year, it’s been two years since the last time there were cheetah cubs at the park. But that all changed on March 29 when four little cubs were born from first-time cheetah mom Delta. The father, Chester, is also a first-time parent.
The litter’s two males and two females roughly doubled in size in less than ten days and they appear to be very healthy.
As part of the Species Survival Program, the cubs will stay with their mom for a while until they’re ready to go out on their own. The two females will each get their own territory to roam and the two males will stay together.
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