Two 12-pound cheetah cubs made their public debut at the Smithsonian National Zoo on Tuesday morning.
The 3-month-olds were being released into the yard under supervision for about an hour at a time. As they grow and develop muscles, zookeeper Kate Volz said, the cubs will spend more time outside.
“They’re having a blast,” she said. “They’ve been wandering out toward the end of logs and things we’re not comfortable with yet. So we’ve been shooing them back from dangerous spots at this point.”
The cheetahs moved to D.C. on May 18 from the zoo’s facility in Front Royal, where they were born. But Volz said the cubs didn’t have the immunity to be released into the exhibit. Instead, they were bottle fed and raised primarily indoors.
“They have very, very sharp claws,” Volz said. “They were squirmier than a domesticated cat and shredded many a pair of gloves — that’s for sure.”
The pair, one male and one female, are expected to grow to about 100 pounds apiece.
Zoo officials are waiting for the London Olympics before they name the pair. The fastest American man and woman in the 100-meter dash will have the honor having the cheetahs named after them.
The possibilities for the male cheetah are Justin, Tyson and Ryan. The female cub could take on the name Carmelita, Tianna or Allyson.
