The District’s National Zoo announced the recent birth of five cheetahs, the 21st litter born in the Smithsonian population since 2007.
Five-year-old Zura gave birth on Monday, zoo officials said in a release Friday. She and her cubs are in the care of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute at a facility in Front Royal, Virginia, an hour from the zoo.
The new litter is the latest in a chain of successful captive breedings and births for the institute’s cheetahs. Zura was born in 2021 to Rosalie, who in turn was born in 2015 to Sanurra.
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Rosalie and Sanurra are still in the care of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
“With these cubs, we now have four generations of the same cheetah family with us. It’s a testament to the high level of care our team is able to provide for these animals,” Adrienne Crosier, who curates carnivore populations for the institute, said in the zoo release.
The cubs aren’t on display to the public yet, but are featured on the zoo’s cheetah cam.
Zoo officials said the cheetah cam will run six to seven months until the cubs stop sleeping together in the same den.
The cubs will remain at the institute for another year or two before being sent elsewhere as part of captive breeding and conservation efforts.
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