深入了解史密森尼保護(hù)生物學(xué)研究所的一周大獵豹幼崽動(dòng)物護(hù)理人員目前正在與生物學(xué)家 Adrienne Crosier 進(jìn)行的 #Cubdate 問(wèn)答中舉手。

崽崽怎么樣了？
他做得很好！ 他大部分時(shí)間都在睡覺(jué)和吃飯，但已經(jīng)開(kāi)始變得更加活躍和靈活。 他是一個(gè)很好的食客，體重為 634 克，體重不到一磅半。 他比豆豆嬰兒毛絨玩具大一點(diǎn)。

你給幼崽吃什么？

我們正在給他喂食物種生存計(jì)劃 (SSP) 推薦的用于人工飼養(yǎng)獵豹幼崽的特殊商業(yè)配方。其他育種中心在它方面取得了巨大成功，SSP 的獸醫(yī)和營(yíng)養(yǎng)顧問(wèn)對(duì)其進(jìn)行了仔細(xì)評(píng)估。

我們讓他斷奶了配方。他的媽媽?zhuān)? 歲的 Sukiri，在他的第一個(gè)晚上照顧他，第二天早上就拋棄了他。當(dāng)我們把他帶進(jìn)來(lái)時(shí)，我們用水稀釋了配方，這樣他的系統(tǒng)就可以適應(yīng)不同的物質(zhì)。我們從一半配方，一半水開(kāi)始。第二天，我們給了他 75% 的配方奶粉，到他第三天，他吃的是 100% 的配方奶粉。

未來(lái)，我們希望利用我們的牛奶銀行。國(guó)家動(dòng)物園的營(yíng)養(yǎng)科學(xué)部擁有世界上最大的動(dòng)物奶庫(kù)，但沒(méi)有收集到足夠的獵豹奶樣本來(lái)制作配方奶。大多數(shù)大型貓科動(dòng)物不會(huì)容忍收集樣本所需的動(dòng)手接觸。一個(gè)罕見(jiàn)的例外是 2020 年通過(guò)胚胎移植出生的前兩只獵豹幼崽的生母。希望我們將來(lái)能夠收集更多樣本。

你多久喂一次他？

一周大的時(shí)候，我們每天給他喂八次，或者平均每 3 小時(shí)喂一次。這個(gè)周末我們一天要去七次。我們通過(guò)巢穴攝像頭非常仔細(xì)地觀察我們的獵豹幼崽喂奶，但無(wú)法準(zhǔn)確跟蹤它們和媽媽在一起時(shí)喂奶的頻率。除了識(shí)別攝像頭上的個(gè)體這一挑戰(zhàn)之外，獵豹幼崽還將“助眠”。當(dāng)我們用手撫養(yǎng)幼崽時(shí)也會(huì)發(fā)生同樣的情況：我會(huì)喂幼崽，他會(huì)隨機(jī)地用嘴里的瓶子打瞌睡。然后他會(huì)再醒來(lái)幾分鐘并吃奶，然后再次入睡。它非?？蓯?ài)。

你如何為養(yǎng)母準(zhǔn)備幼崽？

對(duì)于任何幼崽來(lái)說(shuō)，從其他獵豹身上學(xué)會(huì)成為獵豹是很重要的。 我們希望在另一個(gè) AZA 認(rèn)證的動(dòng)物園向他介紹一只雌性獵豹，它將在未來(lái)幾周內(nèi)分娩。 與此同時(shí)，我們不希望他與任何守門(mén)員建立聯(lián)系。 然而，我們正在盡最大努力模仿母獵豹會(huì)做的事情。

我們刺激他排便。 護(hù)理會(huì)議結(jié)束后，我們拿溫暖的濕棉球擦拭他，就像母親清潔他一樣。 我們甚至在他的孵化器中放置了毛絨動(dòng)物玩具，以模擬他睡覺(jué)時(shí)有其他幼崽在他身邊。 最近，我們給他買(mǎi)了一只特殊的毛絨狗，它有一個(gè)電池供電的“心跳”。

A Cheetah Cub Check-in

Sep. 24, 2021 ? ?

Animal care staff at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute notes the one-week-old cheetah cub they are currently hand-raising has a good appetite!??

? ?

Get an inside look at the one-week-old cheetah cub animal care staff at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are currently hand-raising in this #Cubdate Q&A with biologist Adrienne Crosier.

How is the cub doing?

He is doing very well! He spends most of his time sleeping and eating but has started to become more active and mobile. He is a good eater and weighed in at a healthy 634 grams, or just under a pound and a half. He’s a little larger than a Beanie Baby stuffed animal.

What do you feed the cub?

We are feeding him a special, commercial formula recommended by the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for hand-rearing cheetah cubs. Other breeding centers have had great success with it and the SSP’s vets and nutrition advisor have assessed it carefully.

We weaned him onto the formula. His mom, 7-year-old Sukiri, nursed him over his first night before abandoning him the next morning. When we brought him in, we diluted the formula with water so his system could adjust to the different substance. We started with half formula, half water. The next day we gave him 75% formula, and by his third day he was eating 100% formula.

In the future, we hope to make use of our milk bank. The National Zoo’s Department of Nutrition Science has the world’s largest animal milk repository, but there have not been enough cheetah milk samples collected for a formula to be created. Most large cats will not tolerate the hands-on contact needed to collect the samples. A rare exception to this was the birth mother to the first two cheetah cubs born via embryo transfer in 2020. Hopefully we will be able to collect more samples in the future.

How often do you feed him?

At one week old, we feed him eight times a day, or every 3 hours on average. This weekend we will go to seven times a day. We watch our cheetah cubs nurse very closely from den cameras, but its impossible to track exactly how often they nurse when they’re with their mom. On top of the challenge of identifying individuals on the cam, cheetah cubs will ‘nurse sleep’. The same happens when we hand-rear cubs: I will be feeding the cub and he will randomly doze off with the bottle in his mouth. Then he will wake up for a few more minutes and nurse before falling back to sleep again. It is very cute.

How are you preparing the cub for a foster mom?

It is important for any cub to learn to be a cheetah from other cheetahs. We are hoping to introduce him to a female cheetah at another AZA-accredited zoo who is set to give birth in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we do not want him bonding with any of the keepers. However, we are doing our best to mimic what a mother cheetah would do.

We stimulate him to defecate. After a nursing session, we take warm, wet cotton balls and wipe him down like a mother would clean him. We even placed stuffed animals in his incubator to mimic having other cubs around him while he sleeps. Most recently, we got him a special plush dog that has a battery powered “heartbeat.”

Has the cub reached any milestones?

Yes, his ears have just started to open! Cheetah cubs are born with their ears and eyes shut. I recently noticed him starting to react to some sounds. His eyes opened around his seventh day. He should be able to see some basic shapes. He will likely start recognizing and reacting to some items, like people and the bottle.

How is Sukiri doing?

Sukiri is doing just fine. Because she abandoned the cub, as a wild cheetah would, we didn’t expect to see any different behavior. She is acting normal, and we hope to breed her again in the spring.