Nicknamed Xena, after the warrior princess, the cub has received round-the-clock care from park keepers since being found cold and weak.
The bond couldn’t be restored despite attempts to reunite Xena with her mother, Wilma. Wilma had successfully raised two cubs, Winston and Poppy, in 2016, making her abandonment of Xena a surprise to the staff.
The cub would likely not have survived without intervention, so keepers stepped in to care for her.
Keeper Matt Cleverley, who has previous experience hand-rearing cheetahs in Africa, volunteered to care for Xena alongside his wife, Kate, a keeper. He described raising Xena by hand as difficult but necessary for her survival.
The cub is fed every four hours and goes home with the couple at the end of each day. Xena has already doubled her birth weight, and the team is cautiously optimistic about her future.
She will soon begin transitioning to a meat-based diet, hoping that she will eventually be able to care for herself.
Cheetahs are classified as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), meaning they are at risk of becoming “Endangered” unless threats to their survival are reduced.
In 2008, the IUCN estimated that there were between 7,500 and 10,000 adult cheetahs left in Africa, and there are concerns that the population has continued to decline.
Xena is part of Longleat’s efforts within the European Endangered Species Programme, which focuses on conserving endangered wildlife.
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