CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo has announced that it will be retiring three of its cheetah companion dogs.
Moose, Remus and Daisy had worked for several years in the past to serve as what the zoo calls “surrogate siblings” to their cheetah cubs.
“Most cheetahs that come be to a part of the Cat Ambassador Program are single cubs.” Andrea Haugen, a senior trainer with the Cincinnati Zoo’s Cat Ambassador Program, explains in an article on the zoo’s website. “Often these cubs come from a cheetah mother who did not have the most successful litter. Cheetahs can have upwards of six cubs in a litter at a time and they will stay with their mothers for up to nearly two years. When a cheetah mom has only one or two cubs survive in her litter, often she will abandon those cubs and even stop producing milk for them.”…