According to the African Wildlife Foundation, there are less than 7,000 cheetahs expected to be alive today. To make things more critical, over three-fourths of those cheetahs are residing on unprotected lands. For these reasons, cheetahs have been listed as “vulnerable.”
The good news is, there’s still time to help the cheetahs. For years, experts have been performing in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure that’s normally used for human women dealing with infertility, on cheetahs and other large cats. Recently, we’ve been informed that the very first cheetah IVF, which has been a long and difficult process, has been a success. What is more, two healthy cheetah cubs were born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on February 19, 2020!
Dr. Randy Junge, who works as the Vice President of the Columbus Zoo’s Animal Health, is very pleased with the surrogate pregnancy.
“These two cubs may be tiny, but they represent a huge accomplishment, with expert biologists and zoologists working together to create this scientific marvel,” he said. “This achievement expands scientific knowledge of cheetah reproduction, and may become an important part of the species’ population management in the future.”
But how did the process go down?
The tiny cats are biologically related to 6-year-old cheetah, Kibibi, but were born to a younger cheetah named Isabelle “Izzy.”
On November 14, 2019, “elderly” biological mother, Kibibi, received hormone injections to encourage follicle development. A few days later, her eggs were removed and were then manually fertilized on November 19 with s***n collected from three-year-old Slash the cheetah from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. Then a couple of days later, the young embryos were implanted in Izzy. This was only the third time scientists have ever tried this.
It turns out, third time’s a charm! On December 23, an ultrasound of Izzy’s womb showcased two healthy fetuses!
“In the 19 years that I’ve worked with cheetahs, one of the big challenges is that we have no idea if a female is pregnant until at least 60 days following a procedure or breeding. Working with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was a game-changer because their females are highly cooperative,” said Adrienne Crosier, a biologist specializing in cheetahs at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Insitute.
“We knew that Izzy was pregnant at five weeks by ultrasound and we continued to collect ultrasound data throughout her entire pregnancy. It was a remarkable opportunity and we learned so much.”
And today, the babies are thriving and appear to be both happy and healthy.
Carnivore Curator from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Jason Ahistus, celebrates the successful treatment knowing that it could be used again in the future to expand the threatened cheetah population.
“I am very proud of the team for this accomplishment,” Ahistus shared. “It gives the cheetah conservation community another tool to use in cheetah management, both in situ and ex situ. It really opens the door to many new opportunities that can help the global cheetah population. This is a big win for the cheetah.”
What great news! Enjoy pictures of the sweet newborn cubs below.
