Zoo Miami welcomes Winston the cheetah, new animal ambassador
MIAMI - Zoo Miami's newest ambassador animal is just about the cutest thing you will see all day. It's a cheetah cub named Winston.
The cub was born at Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon on May 9th. His full name is Winston Eugene Portland III, a tribute to the cities that played a role in his life as he traveled through in Oregon during his trip to Miami.
After his arrival on June 14th, Winston was secluded in a quarantine area where he received a series of tests and exams to help ensure that he was healthy and developing normally. He was also monitored and cared for by a team of Animal Science and Animal Health experts as they slowly acclimated him to his new surroundings and prepared him for his future role as an ambassador animal.
Winston has now successfully cleared quarantine and will soon be making public appearances on a random basis as the staff prepares him for his role as a future star of the Zoo Miami Ambassador Team. He will be the successor to the zoo's present cheetah ambassadors, Koda and Diesel, who are getting up in age and will be looking at retirement in the not too distant future.
Established more than two decades ago, the Zoo Miami Cheetah Ambassador Program has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to directly support cheetah conservation efforts in the wild.
Cheetahs are considered to be Africa's most endangered big cat with only about 7,000 remaining in the wild. Found in isolated pockets of Eastern and Southern Africa as well as a very small population in Asia, cheetahs are not considered a danger to humans. However, their biggest threat is human conflict as they are often shot by farmers who consider them a threat to their livestock.
