Spotted dog and black dog answer the call to be "wet nurses"
According to reports (by reporter Shen Minlan and correspondent Su Feilong), Shanghai Wildlife Zoo has once again set a new record in cheetah breeding. Recently, the "queen mother" cheetah successfully gave birth to seven cubs - four males and three females. This is extremely rare in the history of global cheetah breeding. According to the wildlife zoo, the heaviest among the seven newborn cheetahs, the "eldest brother," weighs 605 grams, while the lightest, the "youngest sister," weighs 460 grams. Currently, the mother cheetah and her seven adorable cubs are all safe and sound. In cheetah breeding records, female cheetahs usually give birth to 1-5 cubs per litter, with six being very rare and seven even more so.
On the morning of April 2, the keepers noticed that the seven blind cubs were vigorously crawling towards their mother's chest, latching onto her nipples and sucking hard. However, with "fewer teats than mouths," the mother cheetah only had six nipples, which could not simultaneously feed seven cubs. To ensure the health of the mother and the safety of the cubs, the keepers immediately decided to take the cubs to the animal nursery for artificial feeding.
The animal nannies at the nursery quickly prepared warm water, giving the seven cheetah siblings a warm bath, drying them with towels, and blow-drying them. Veterinarians also arrived promptly, applying iodine to their navels for wound disinfection and administering appropriate doses of antibiotics based on the physical condition of each cub to prevent infection.
Shanghai Wildlife Zoo publicly recruited two healthy dogs who had recently given birth and had sufficient milk to act as wet nurses for the seven siblings. Recently, a black dog named "Xiaohei" and a spotted dog named "Xiaohua" have come forward to apply as "wet nurses."
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Cheetahs are highly genetically pure animals and are listed as one of the world's endangered species. Shanghai Wildlife Zoo has consistently regarded them as a major research project, conducting long-term studies and explorations. In 1997, a single cheetah became pregnant twice within the year, successfully breeding 11 cheetahs, causing a sensation. From 2002 to 2005, the wildlife zoo successively introduced 17 sub-adult cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa in Africa. This led to a major breakthrough in cheetah breeding in 2006, where 40 cheetahs were successfully bred, with 31 surviving, setting an Asian record.