The zoo said the keeper was taken to the hospital “for further evaluation out of precaution” and was later released, the television station reported.

The team contacted first responders with the Liberty Township Fire Department, WSYX reported. We believe that, due to normal animal behavior, the scent of these other animals on the keeper triggered a natural instinct in Isabelle, who reacted.” “When the keeper approached them, Isabelle crouched down and lunged toward the Heart of Africa keeper, who works around giraffes and other hoofstock. The team invited the keeper to approach closer,” zoo officials said in a statement. “At this time, Isabelle’s care team had her sit and she was calm and purring. 4fleB6pCHp- Lindsey Mills March 11, 2021Īt the same time, a keeper from the Heart of Africa region was walking down the service road toward Isabelle, WBNS reported. Yesterday, for the first time, Ruth and the cubs were rolling around and playing.Thread: This is a photo of Isabelle (Izzy), photo credit Amanda Carberry Isabelle is the surrogate mother to the world’s 1st cheetah cubs born in February 2020 using IVF and embryo transfer. Reh and Ro seem to prefer Reese so far, but that might be because Reese has been there longer, Rapp said. The cubs and the puppies are friendly to one another without quite being buddies yet. “Just because they are being raised with dogs doesn’t mean they will act like dogs.” “Like it or not, they are wild animals,” Rapp said. Reh climbed on top of a Dispatch photographer’s head while the photographer was on the ground, trying to snap Ro. They’ve been scratching holes in the office’s couch. There’s no mistaking what they will become.

They might grow larger than 100 pounds, but it’s hard to see that now. Reese and Ruth are still tumbling, floppy puppies, not quite secure in their bodies. Yesterday at the zoo, they didn’t act like it. They are two days older than Ro and Reh, who are 10 weeks old.

A couple of weeks after the cheetahs arrived in Columbus, Reese the puppy did, too. The zoo found a farm in Alabama that raised the dogs. If Ro went on a trip, his dog friend would come with him.Īnd besides, Rapp said, it would allow the zoo to tell the story of cheetah conservation and Anatolian Shepherds wherever they went. It was thought that if the Columbus Zoo paired Anatolian Shepherds with the baby cheetahs, Ro and Reh would never be alone. Rapp said zoos sometimes raise cheetahs alongside dogs, because cheetahs can be shy and nervous, and dogs help them feel more secure. By keeping the cheetahs away, the dogs save the cheetahs’ lives. To protect them, the international Cheetah Conservation Fund has worked with the farmers to place Anatolian Shepherd dogs to guard the livestock. She needed to find them some friends.Ĭheetahs are a threatened species, but in Namibia, farmers kill them for attacking livestock. Females like being by themselves, but Ro and Reh would always get lonely without each other, she said. She has raised cheetahs and knows about their personalities. Suzi Rapp, the zoo’s director of promotions and animal encounters, saw that right away. Ro and Reh, born at the Cincinnati Zoo, hate to be apart, though. The brothers would live together, but one might go with Jack Hanna for an appearance on a national television show, while the other might visit local schools.

The zoo named them Ro and Reh (pronounced Ray), and decided that they could be used best not for display but for education and to promote cheetah conservation. Two baby cheetahs, brothers, came to the Columbus Zoo about six weeks ago.

Columbus zoo cheetah