Cheetahs - Addison and two cubs - family clean up

            Cheetahs -  First-time mother Addison and her 4 adorable cubs. The 2 males (Wgasa and Refu) and 2 females (Pumzika and Mahala) were born at the Safari Park breeding center on July 13, 2014.

The cheetah is a large feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of Iran. The cheetah is a unique felid, with its closest living relatives being the puma and jaguarondi. 

The cheetah is still considered by some to be the smallest of the big cats. It is often mistaken for the leopard, but the cheetah has distinguishing features, such as the tear-streak lines that run from its eyes to its mouth, and the thinner body frame of the cheetah is also very different from that of the leopard. 

This cat is notable for being only one of three felids with only semi-retractable claws, offering extra grip in its high-speed pursuits. Cheetahs are the fastest of land mammals, are peaceable except at breeding time. They hunt alone and don’t have any of the group behaviors that lions do.

A cheetah cannot roar, it uses a high-pitched barking called chirping. Growling is often accompanied by hissing and spitting and is exhibited if the cheetah is annoyed, or when faced with danger. Purring as with most cats, is when the cheetah is content, usually between cubs and their mothers.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park has been introducing dogs to calm the skittish cats and bring attention to their plight. Pairing "companion dogs" with cheetahs to serve as playmates and to comforting and reassuring the cheetah. Cheetahs are the world's biggest scaredy-cats. 

The dogs are the bosses in these relationships, the dog always has the cat's back, but it's never the other way around. Dogs worry about and protect their cats. 

The San Diego Zoo was given a pair of cheetahs in 1981 on the condition they be given dogs because they were used to them. San Diego Zoo Safari Park is the top U.S. breeder of cheetahs in captivity. In the past 40 years, over 140 cheetahs have been born at the park's breeding facility. With 6 recent births. A pair from Allie, and 4 cubs from Addison.

Cheetahs are included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of vulnerable species (African subspecies threatened, Asiatic subspecies in critical situation) as well as on the US Endangered Species Act: threatened species 

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Taken at:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Escondido, CA

Taken on: March 3, 2015

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Sets appears in: • Parent and Offspring sets • Cheetahs - Addison + 4 cubs

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