Our Cheetah Cubs
Desert Islands is proud to share the news of the birth of four healthy and beautiful cheetah cubs, born free in the Arabian Wildlife Park on Sir Bani Yas Island.
The births follows the announcment of two rare hyena cubs in February 2010.
The cubs were born on 21st January, 2010. As the cubs are born in the wild, staff have not interfered, monitoring them from a safe distance to check they are healthy.
The cheetahs on Sir Bani Yas Island are the only wild cheetahs in the U.A.E. The cheetah is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, the world-wide body monitoring the status of wildlife and plants around the world. There are less than 10,000 wild cheetahs left worldwide.
The mother, a cheetah named Safira, gave birth to her cubs in a small cave in the mountains and has so far not moved them from their original den. As the cubs get older and more inquisitive they will venture further and further from the den; eventually accompanying their mother on hunting trips.
| Follow the progress of the cheetah cubs on our Wildlife Blog written and updated weekly by the staff on Sir Bani Yas Island. Or Click Here to learn about the other animal species on Sir Bani Yas Island. |
The Significance
The births are big news, as the cheetahs are the first to be born wild in the region in many years. The births are the result of breeding programmes in the Arabian Wildlife Park on Sir Bani Yas Island which have also resulted in births of more than 3000 gazelles in the first three months of 2010.
Cheetahs were first brought to Sir Bani Yas Island in 2009. The two adult males and one female were born in captivity, but thought to hunt and fend for themselves by staff on Sir Bani Yas Island. Once ‘re-wilded’ the cheetahs were released into the Arabian Wildlife Park in May 2009. The park takes up approximatly half the island is home to more than 5000 native animals including Sand Gazelle and Arabian Oryx. A wild environment, the park provides perfect living conditions for the cheetahs who have been living in the park since mid-2009, hunting and feeding for themselves – and providing island guests with exceptional experiences.
The cheetahs play a very important role in the Arabian Wildlife Park by helping to restore a more ‘natural’ ecosystem with predators and prey. Their presence means that the ungulate populations are kept under control by natural means, so herbivores numbers on the island do not increase so much that they put too much pressure on the vegetation.
See the Cheetahs
The adult cheetahs are often spotted while they hunt by guests on guided Nature & Wildlife Drives. The drives are hosted by professional island guides who are experts on the island breeding programmes and the cheetahs. Safira, the adult cheetah is an excellent mother and has thus far kept the cubs in or around the den. We believe it will may be some weeks before she and the cubs start exploring areas where island guests may see them.
Cheetah Facts
- Cheetahs are a member of the cat family and are well-known for being the fastest terrestrial mammal, with the ability to reach speeds of 112-120 km/h.There are five different subspecies of cheetah worldwide; the cheetahs on Sir Bani Yas Island are of the Northern Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii) subspecies. Originally from Northern Africa they are the closest living relatives to the now extinct cheetah that roamed the Arabian Peninsula.
- The cheetahs on Sir Bani Yas Island are part of a European Endangered Species Program (EEP) and European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) in conjunction with other breeding centres in the UAE.
- The cheetahs were put through a re-wilding programme to enable them to learn to hunt and be self-sufficient before they were released into the Arabian Wildlife Park. On May 1st 2009, Safira, then five years old, was the first of the three free-ranging cheetahs to be released into the park once the Sir Bani Yas Island Conservation Department staff were satisfied she could hunt and take care of herself. The two males, Gibbs and Gabriel, completed their re-wilding process, and were released into the park on July 20th 2009.
- Survival rates for cheetah cubs are very low both in the wild and captivity, and Safira is doing an impressive job of taking care of her babies so that they have made it through the first six weeks of their life.
- All three adult free ranging cheetahs have been fitted with radio collars so that they can be tracked using radio telemetry. This gives the Conservation Department on Sir Bani Yas Island a great opportunity to study the cubs’ behavior as they grow, learn more about maternal care, and how the cubs learn to hunt from their mother.
- Cheetahs have a gestation period of 90-95 days and they can have 1-6 cubs at a time. Cheetah cubs can eat solid food at 6-8 weeks old; the mother will make a kill and then call her cubs to come and feed on it. The cubs will start learning hunting skills at 9-15 months old but will only become successful hunters once they are 2 years old.