“A five-year-old mother cheetah named Echo has given birth to a litter of cubs at Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia. You can watch live as Echo bonds with her four cubs on Smithsonian’s Cheetah Cub Cam.
This Livestream is the same footage animal care staff are watching from afar to give Echo time and space to bond and care for her newborn babies. Staff won’t know the cubs’ sexes until Echo has bonded with her cubs and staff can get a closer look safely. Echo started having contractions this morning and gave birth to her first cub shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The cub’s father is a four-year-old male cheetah named Scott. Echo and Scott were paired and bred in the first week on January. This is Echo’s first pregnancy, and one of 14 litters of cheetah cubs born at SCBI since 2007.
View the whole story here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/watch-live-national-zoo-cheetah-birth-litter-cubs-180974629/