Baby cheetah found dead at Colchester Zoo
A one-month-old cheetah cub, part of a litter of five born in April (pictured), has been found dead at Colchester Zoo Picture: COLCHESTER ZOO - Credit: Colchester Zoo
A baby cheetah from a recent litter has been found dead by zookeepers at Colchester Zoo.
The cub, which was one of five to be born by mother Sia last month, was found dead during a routine early morning inspection on Friday, May 8.
It is understood the unnamed cub had died overnight.
The cause of the cub’s death has not yet been confirmed by the zoo’s veterinarian.
A spokesman for the zoo described the situation as “extremely sad” and added the litter of cubs were shortly due to be named.
The spokesman said: “This is extremely sad, particularly at this moment and the difficult time we are all facing.
“However, we still have three female and one male cub and we can report that they are doing extremely well. Mum, Sia, is OK and continues to be a great mum to her 4 cubs so we hope there will be no further bad news to report to you.
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“We would like to pause for a couple of days before we move forward with naming the cubs to allow our dedicated keepers some time to recover from this very sad loss.
“We hope to soon announce to you more births which may bring a smile of satisfaction.”
The five were born on April 14 and three are due to be named with names beginning with N, H and S to honour NHS staff on the frontline against coronavirus.
