CHEETAHS AT THE ZOO
ABQ BioPark Zoo welcomes a trio of cheetah siblings
ABQ BioPark Zoo welcomes three juvenile male cheetahs, all of them siblings. The big cats came from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas, where they were born last year.
They’re referred to as the bean brothers — Garbanzo, Pinto and Borracho — and these playful male cheetahs are the newest residents of the ABQ BioPark Zoo.
The trio recently arrived from the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas, where they were born in May 2017.
“We are very excited to continue our commitment to cheetah conservation and welcome these young cheetahs to Albuquerque,” said Erin Flynn, ABQ BioPark mammal curator.
The BioPark Zoo is not responsible for the cheetahs’ names, Flynn said, but the staff appreciates the bean theme. Borracho beans are pinto beans cooked in beer. “Borracho” means “drunk” in Spanish.
To be clear, beer is not part of a cheetah’s prey in the wild, which includes small to medium-sized antelopes, gazelles, impalas, hares and sometimes the calves of larger animals.
During a routine examination, Garbanzo was found to have a small lump in his gums. The lump was removed, and cancerous cells were detected, Flynn
said. A follow-up protocol is being developed, and Garbanzo’s prognosis at this time is unknown, “but even with the unknown, it was thought in his best interest to keep him with his brothers,” she said.
The three cheetahs are joining the zoo’s resident matriarch cheetah, 16-yearold Annabelle, who has been giving signals that she’s no longer interested in interacting with the public, and has been retired to her behind-the-scenes living quarters.
At 16 years old, Annabelle is certainly deserving of retirement. In the wild, cheetahs live from six to eight years, and in accredited zoos they live an average of 11.6 years, Flynn said.
“We believe in whole-life care and are committed to giving her a comfortable life,” although zoo visitors won’t see her much anymore.
Cheetahs make a chirping sound, almost like a bird. They also growl, hiss and purr, but they do not roar.
These cats are found in patchy distribution across southeastern and northern Africa, mostly in grasslands and deserts. There have also been cheetah sightings in a small area in Iran. At maturity, they can weigh up to 160 pounds, but are more commonly 80 to 120 pounds, said Flynn. They stand about 3 feet tall at the shoulders, and their bodies are about 5 feet long. Their tail adds another 2.5 feet — length that is critical “because it acts like a rudder and helps them quickly change direction when running.”
And boy, do they run! With their semi-retractable claws gripping the ground, “cheetahs have been clocked at 70 mph for brief periods of time, making them the fastest of all cats; in fact, the fastest of all land animals,” Flynn said. They are not, however, the fastest animal in the world. That distinction, she noted, belongs to the peregrine falcon, which has been clocked at 240 mph in dives.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, classifies the cheetah as a “vulnerable” species, with populations decreasing due to habitat loss, prey reduction and killing by humans, largely to protect livestock. Only about 7,000 remain in the wild.