Six cheetah cubs made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park just in time for spring break.
The 4-month-old fur balls and their proud mom moved last week into their new exhibit, where visitors to the park can watch them play and explore.
“They’re still a little intimidated by things going on, but they’re adjusting really quickly,” said Paula Augustus, senior keeper at the Safari Park’s Cheetah Breeding Center.
The cubs were born at the breeding center in November. The litter of four females and two males is the largest ever raised at the park.
“We have been breeding cheetahs here since the early 1970s, when the park first opened, and we have had 157 cubs born here during that time,” Augustus said.
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido is one of nine cheetah breeding facilities working to create a sustainable cheetah population that will prevent extinction of the world’s fastest land animal.
Cheetahs are an endangered species with just 10,000 remaining worldwide — 10 percent live in zoos or wildlife parks.
The cubs will be genetically tested when they reach maturity, Augustus said.
“Based on the genetics of the population of cheetahs in the breeding centers will determine where they go for the best breeding matches,” she said. “But we’re not going to know for a couple of years whether or not any of them stay here or if they all will go to other breeding centers.”
Augustus said the best time to see the cubs at the Safari Park is during the morning hours and late afternoon, when they’re the most active.
