Saturday, 30 April 2011
An absolutely gorgeous spring day found us doing something fascinating and special.
FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) is the dedicated non-profit partner of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. The organization helps the zoo “fulfill its goal of excellence in animal care, science, sustainability, and education.”
Mui and I much prefer to see wildlife where they belong — in the wild. But we also believe that zoos play an important role, especially in teaching kids the importance of loving and protecting animals, many of which are threatened and endangered. We visit the National Zoo frequently, most recently in January when we went to see the lion cubs after they made their public debut. (Click here to read the blog post and see our photos and video from that visit.)
Earlier this year, we donated something near and dear to our hearts to the FONZ for their fundraising auction. (I’ll blog about that separately.) When Mui went to the zoo to drop off our donation, he met Cassandra Thomas, Associate Gifts Officer. At some point in their conversation, Mui apparently mentioned that we were anxiously waiting for the cheetah cubs that were born in December 2010 to make their public debut. Cassandra picked up on that interest and the next thing we knew, we were invited to attend a special event at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), located in Front Royal. (The facility is not normally open to the general public.)
How could we not accept this invitation? Just look at those adorable balls of fluff.
Front Royal is about 55 miles (88 km) from where we live. A long drive to be sure, but it was worth it to see the cubs. The temperature when we left the house shortly after 10:00a was a cool 59F (15C), but warmed up nicely to 70F (21C) by mid-day. The clear, blue skies and the gleaming sun made for a pleasurable day for the 1-hour drive. That we didn’t encounter any traffic problems en route was a bonus.
The SCBI was launched in January 2010. It “serves as an umbrella for the Smithsonian’s global effort to conserve species and train future generations of conservationists.” The Institute, located on the 3200-acre (13 sq km) campus that was previously the zoo’s Conservation and Research Center, consists of six centers: the Center for Animal Care Science, the Conservation Ecology Center, the Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, the Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, the migratory Bird Center, and the Center for Species Survival. (Click here for more information about the SCBI.)
Each guest was presented with a photocard featuring today’s star attractions.
The event began with a simple, but very tasty lunch. While we ate, Dennis Kelly (Director of the National Zoo) and Steven Monfort (Director of the SCBI) welcomed the 50 or so guests that were in attendance, thanking us for our support. Next, Adrienne Crosier (Reproductive Biologist) gave a brief presentation entitled, Connecting the Spots, Understanding Cheetah Biology to Improve Reproduction. A couple of interesting points …
- In the 1900s, there were ~100,000 cheetahs in Africa and Asia
- Today, there are less than 12,000 cheetahs in Africa, with ~100 in Iran
- Namibia has the largest population (~3,000), which is also disease free
- Only 20% of the North American population (captive) has ever reproduced
Zazi is one of the females at the SCBI (Born May 2001).
Adrienne then gave us some information about the cheetahs at the SCBI, and talked about the cubs that were born in December 2010. Born to separate mothers, each litter contained a singleton (one cub). Single-litter cubs are unusual; and these cubs often die in the wild. Biologists believe that one cub alone cannot stimulate the mother to lactate enough milk. She will leave the cub to die, thus coming back into estrus faster so she can breed again.
First Glimpse of Zazi and the two cubs (male in the center; female to the right).
When Amani gave birth to her singleton (a male), the decision was made to hand-raise the cub since it was expected that she’d be unable to nurse the cub long-term. Ten days later, Zazi also gave birth to a singleton (a female). At that point, the decision was made to try and cross-foster the male cub with Zazi in the hopes that two cubs would be able to stimulate her enough to lactate and nurse both cubs. To transfer some of Zazi’s scent to the cub, the keepers put some of the shavings from her nest box in the incubator. The next day, while Zazi was out, they put the male cub in the nest box, rubbing him together with the female cub to transfer more scent. I can imagine the thrill (and initial fear) the keepers must have felt when Zazi returned to the nest box, picked up the male cub, and proceeded to give him a good, long grooming. As Adrienne commented, “he must have smelled quite bad after we rubbed him with the dirty shavings from Zazi’s nest box.” (For more on the development of the cubs, click here for the keeper updates.)
The female cub, younger by 10 days, is the shier of the two cubs.
After the presentation, we were loaded into the waiting vans and driven to the Cheetah Science Facility to get up close and personal with the cheetahs. Separated into two groups, we went with Lacey, the head cheetah keeper, to visit the two other females at the SCBI. I have to admit that the small-mesh fencing was a disappointment — especially from a photography standpoint. Olivia (7 years old) and Ally (4 years old) both stayed very close to the fence-line in their respective enclosures, making it impossible to get a decent picture of them. The small kids (especially the 11-month old) held their rapt attention — the hunting instinct to go after small animals perhaps :-) But both cheetahs were well-behaved, just sitting and carefully watching each move the kids made.
Olivia (Born May 2004)
Ally (Born May 2007)
Next, we went to the enclosure where the three males are kept. These brothers — Draco, Granger, and Zabini — were born in 2005. They came to the zoo 4 years ago from the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida. Unlike female cheetahs, which are solitary in the wild, the males form a coalition. Hence this trio share an enclosure at the SCBI. The brothers kept their distance from the fence-line, allowing us to get close to the chain link to photograph them without hindrance. (No ID on the males, I’m afraid. In fact, these images may all be of the same male.)
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Here’s an interesting tidbit from today’s outing … on a day-to-day basis, the females are kept “visually hidden” from the males. Apparently, in the world of cheetah dating, familiarity breeds contempt :-)
Finally, it was time to switch places with the other group, which had gone to see the cubs first. When we joined Andrea at their enclosure, we found Zazi and the two cubs resting in the shade of the a small bush. The male cub was a bit more outgoing, showing more of himself to us by standing up and strutting his stuff. The female cub, on the other hand, stayed in the shadows of the bush, raising her head on occasion when her curiosity got the better of her.
Family Portrait with a nice glimpse of the female cub …
… And here’s a better glimpse of the foster cub.
Since he was so cooperative, here are some portraits of the male cub … adorable isn’t he?
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Sleek and trim … a beautiful cat!
And finally, one last shot … When the male cub snuggled up to Zazi, her motherly instincts immediately took over and she started grooming him. Remembering the story of the first meeting between Zazi and the stinky male cub, I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my lips.
You need a good lickin’.
Zazi, whose name, by the way, means “fertile” in Swahili, proved that her name is apropos when she gave birth to a litter of 5 in 2005. I’ll leave you with a photo of that family portrait.
No need for words.
When we went to Botswana in 2004, we were privileged to see two male cheetahs in close proximity. One, in fact, came and sat just a few feet from our jeep, just as curious about us as we were about him. That was a special moment … but then, so was today. To see the interaction between the cheetah mom and her cubs … priceless … especially since under different circumstances, neither cub might have survived.
