cheetah

An amazing world-first achievement: Saba and Nairo, two captive-born cheetahs from the UK have been released into the wild in Africa. 

The two brothers, as IFLSCIENCE reports, were born at Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve in Kent, England, on July 15, 2017. Very quickly though, Saba "showed signs of illness and it was discovered that his liver wasn't functioning properly." To keep him alive, he had to be removed from the litter and hand-raised by Damian and Victoria Aspinall of The Aspinall Foundation. Under their watchful care, he made a full recovery. Of course, because of the way he grew up, he inevitably grew used to playing with humans and being fed, qualities which he would have to overcome if he were one day released into the wild.

"Saba rejoined his brother Nairo in December 2018 and despite their time apart the pair immediately formed a bond." And today, after honing their cheetah instincts for 12 months, the two of them have been released into the wild in Africa.

Read more about the story and check out pics of the adorable brothers below.

If you're a cat lover like us, you have a soft spot in your heart not just for house cats but also for big cats. You'd pet them if you could, and you know it. And you wish you could spend more time around big cats like that and get to know them better, learn about each of them - what makes them special and different and what their personalities are like. 

Well, say thank you to tumblr user carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory for deciding to share their big cat knowledge with us and teaching us - unlucky big cat lovers who can't spend time with big cats - about what makes wild cats unique. Reading this has both educated us and made us want to cuddle a snow leopard even more. 

If you're anything like me, then as much as you love them big cats, you can't help but get them confused sometimes. There are dots, there are other dots, and the other kind of dots, then there are the dots that have more dots inside of them, and it's just- all very cute but very, very confusing. 

Tumblr to the rescue! A user who's field of expertise is big cats has decided to explain the differences between them in the easiest, cutest, silliest tumblr way possible, and we. are. thankful. Thank you, biggest-gaudiest-patronuses, you have made our big cat love a bit clearer. Now, we can appreciates these overgrown house cats more properly. 

Cheetahs - fierce and adorable all at once. There's something about them that overrides any sense of logic and makes you want to hug them. And you know what? Since they're one of the friendliest and most affectionate big cats, if you become a good enough friend of one, you might just be able to do it. 

And since today is the international cheetah day, and we love these adorable big kitties so, so much, we couldn't not celebrate it with you. So we've brought you the most wholesome cheetah pics and memes that we've seen that truly represent these big-hearted animals the way they deserve. 

Wholesome interspecies animal friendships is one of everyone's favorite things, and today, tumblr is giving us a look into one of the cutest ones - cheetahs and doggos. It's a classic tumblr story, where one meme leads to an entire legendary thread that began with simple wholesome and adorable facts about how sweet cheetahs are and somehow turned into an appreciation post for cheetahs an puppies. 

It's a thread that gets better and better the more you read it, and it's so heartwarmingly good, we had to share it with you. May this bring as much joy into your day as it always does to ours and as much as these doggos bring to these cheetah cubs. 

One of our favorite things in the animal kingdom is the obvious, heartwarming love between mothers and their tiny little babies. And the bigger they are, the more adorable we find them. There's a tendency to think of big cats as dangerous and heartless, but we know better than that, we know that they are just as loving as any cat once you earn their trust and love. 

Cheetahs are no different. They are known to be one of the most affectionate big cats when it comes to their relationships with humans. But when it comes to their babies, their little cheetos, their love and adoration is clear as day, and it's so adorable and wholesome, it makes our hearts flutter. 

There are certain pictures that, when you look at, you feel absolutely speechless. Those pictures, a lot of times, are the most incredible ones. They make you think, they make you wonder about all the details that led to that weird, funny, beautiful, or simply wholesome moment. And words, even 1000 words, are not enough to describe them.

Those kinds of pictures are some of our favorites because they truly get our imagination running. So, every single week, we bring you a new collection of pictures like that in the hope that they inspire you as much as they inspire us, that they give you the creative energy that we all thrive on. 

Fun tip for this week's list: not everything that is a leaf is a leaf. 

Some pictures are simply too incredible to be described in anything less than 1000 words. Every week, we bring you some of these pictures. There's so much story within them, whether it's a story of unique animals, 'caught in the act' moments, unexpected relationships, or scheming cats. 

Each of these pictures has a story behind it that we wish we would know. But since most of the times a picture is just a picture, and we don't know what happened to bring such a moment into existence, all we have left to do is imagine. And imagine we do. 

I suspect the reason that this hedgehog is attacking a toy dinosaur is because it's feeling the prehistoric instincts it has from the time during which the hedgehog was the big predator, and the dinosaur was the prickly cutie. But hey, your theory is just as correct as mine.

This a groundbreaking scientific breakthrough! After 20 years of trying to increase the cheetah population, there might be hope for their species yet! 

Columbus Zoo, Ohio, has reported that two cheetah cubs (a male and female) were born February 19th, 2020. The birth is thanks to a procedure that took place at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. For the first time in history, US scientists were able to delivery two cubs via vitro fertilisation (IVF), using a surrogate cheetah.

The surrogate mother, Izzy, is a three-year-old cheetah who carried the eggs harvested from six-year-old Kabibi, and sperm from a cheetah at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas. 

Timeline of the historical procedure according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo website:

• Nov. 14 and 18: The female cheetahs were given hormone injections to develop mature follicles.
• Nov. 19: Eggs (oocytes) were taken from Izzy and Kibibi. Neither had reproduced previously.
• Nov. 19: Semen from male cheetah thawed and eggs fertilized.
• Nov. 21: Team implanted nine embryos in Isabelle (Izzy) and six in second cheetah, Ophelia. A typical cheetah gestation is 93 days.
• Dec. 23: Izzy was confirmed pregnant via ultrasound, which appeared to show two cubs. The ultrasound confirmed that Ophelia was not pregnant.
• Feb. 16: Izzy's care providers begin an around-the-clock video birth watch
• Feb. 19: Cubs born

How amazing is that? Thanks to all the hard working scientists who are keeping these beautiful creature from going extinct! 

Story via CBS News

Here is a MASSIVE cheetah dump to fill your soul with some needed energy, enough to get your through this week and maybe even through next week. That's how powerfully huge this dump is. 

Thanks to Imgur user, JTChee, for rounding up these delicious cheeta-riffic pics and gifs for the world to enjoy!

Cutest best friends ever? We think so! Kris, the cheetah cub, was born July 9th and sadly lost her two siblings due to their mom Neena not being able to produce enough milk to sustain the cubs. 

In fear that Neena might abandon her last cub, caretakers at the Cincinnati Zoo stepped in and brought in a professional leader -- a dog! Blakely, the dog, came into the picture to "serve as a role model" the staff told PEOPLE. 

However, Blakely was retired and came out of retirement for the sole purpose of raising this cheetah cub. As it turns out though, Blakely was more than ready to get back to that retirement life just after a few months. 

Thus, a new canine stepped up to the plate! Remus, a mixed-breed rescue, is now Kris's newest (and from the looks of it, "best-est") friend! 

Seriously, it doesn't get any cuter than Remus and Kris! The two were photographed sharing toys and playing hide-n-seek!

Read more about the dog and cheetah pairings Cincinnati Zoo has paired over the years!