Staff at the Cincinnati Zoo was greatly saddened by the death of their Cheetah Willow but also concerned about the well being of her 5 recently born cubs.
To ensure the little ones get the care they need, personnel enlisted the help of Blakely, an Australian shepherd with a successful record of being a nursery dog. For now, his biggest job it to let the baby cheetahs climb on him and snuggle up, but down the road his responsibilities will grow.
Blakely will become the cubs’ role model and teacher, guiding them along the path to becoming cheetah ambassadors for the zoo. His past successes include schooling a baby takin in rock climbing and appropriate head-butting force.
Zookeepers are also playing a role in the baby cheetah rearing, bottle feeding the young felines regularly and keeping watch over their general health and growth progress.
