Bingwa the cheetah, a 4-year-old inhabitant of the St. Louis Zoo, has just given birth to an unprecedented 8-cub litter.
This is the first time a cheetah has given birth to eight cubs at a zoo in over 430 litters reported by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 3 to 4 cubs is the average litter size.
According to the zoo, Bingwa has developed into an excellent mother to her three sons and five daughters. Steve Bircher, the zoo’s curator of mammals/carnivores, commented, “She has rapidly become competent at caring for her extremely big litter of cubs – grooming, nursing, and caring for them carefully.”
Bingwa’s accomplishment is now more important than ever. The world’s fastest land animal is on the verge of extinction. Only about 7,100 large cats are thought to be left in the wild.
According to the most recent cheetah census, the number of these predatory fluffs might drop by another 53% in the next 15 years.
