Cincinnati Zoo’s three cheetah cubs celebrated their first birthday in November, but they’re still very much babies, learning about the world around them. They’re constantly experiencing new “firsts,” and one recently shared by the zoo has everyone, including their caretakers, cracking up!
The caretakers introduced cubs Zola, Lulu, and Kiara to a new toy: a motorized centipede that crawls around on its own, randomly bumping into things, including the curious big cats. The girls watch it closely and cautiously, unsure what to make of the strange little creature. The first time it bumps into one cub, she quickly swats it away. But when it rolls into another cub who’s standing upright, she leaps out of the way, sending all three scattering in perfect, hilarious unison!
The cubs are just too cute! The little scream the first one let out cracked us up! The Zoo shared more in the video’s caption, “The girls aren’t sure what to think of the new toy! Zola, Lulu, and Kiara take a field trip to the behind-the-scenes indoor keeper area at the Cat Ambassador Program. On most days, you can find keepers in this room planning and prepping animal diets, having team meetings, and more!”
After this experience, the girls probably won’t want to visit again!
Related: Wildlife Rescuers Share Surprising Sound a Cheetah Makes and People Are Flabbergasted
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Commenters Reactions to the Terrified Cheetah Cubs
Everybody got a kick out of the cubs’ video, and it quickly went viral, racking up more than 7 million views and 670,000 likes. Viewers also left thousands of comments about the cheetah cubs’ cute reaction to the centipede. One commenter got more than 105,000 likes when they said, “First one said, ‘EEEEEEYUCK!!!!’ LOL!” @Wayfair added, “‘Oh my god, what is that? What is thatttt?’ LOL!”
@drsb spoke for all of us when they said, “That is in fact the appropriate response to a giant centipede; if anything, they were too chill.” We all agreed with @midwestmom when she added, “This is the appropriate response to any size centipede for me. LOL!”
Commenter @natalie67117 received 90,000 likes when she shared, “I love how they were okay with it until it touched them haha!” Another commenter replied, “That’s exactly how I would react, too!”
This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Dec 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.