{"id":698273,"date":"2026-07-18T10:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/698273\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T10:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:48:15","slug":"spot-check-cheetah-cubs-appear-in-public-for-first-time-at-whipsnade-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/698273\/","title":{"rendered":"Spot check! Cheetah cubs appear in public for first time at Whipsnade Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Play Brightcove video<\/p>\n

Seven cheetah cubs have been seen for the first time at the UK’s largest zoo.<\/p>\n

New footage taken by keepers at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire shows the cubs with their mothers, exploring their new home while play fighting in long grass and chasing each other.<\/p>\n

The two litters cubs were born in May, three to mother Amira and four to Zara, and have been kept in paddocks out of the public eye until now.<\/p>\n

The two litters were the first cheetah births at Whipsnade in 15 years and are part of a conservation breeding programme for the endangered north-eastern cheetah sub-species.<\/p>\n

Amira with two of her cheetah cubs Credit: ZSL\/PA<\/p>\n

Sarah McGregor, section manager of the predators team at Whipsnade Zoo, said: \u201cAfter spending their first few weeks tucked away with their mums, it\u2019s fantastic that visitors will soon be able to catch a glimpse of our seven cheetah cubs exploring more of their home at the UK\u2019s largest zoo for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seven cubs \u2013 who will be sexed at their first health checks in the next couple of weeks \u2013 are vitally important for a global conservation breeding programme.<\/p>\n

ZSL conservationists are working in Zambia to reintroduce a group of cheetahs into the Luangwa Valley, with only 6,500 of the species thought to be left around the world.<\/p>\n

With the birth of Jason, Jasmine and Jacarana in 1967, Whipsnade Zoo became the first in the world to breed and successfully rear cheetahs.<\/p>\n

The cubs explore their area at Whipsnade Zoo Credit: ZSL\/PA<\/p>\n

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Play Brightcove video Seven cheetah cubs have been seen for the first time at the UK’s largest zoo.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-698273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}