2 New Cheetahs Settle In At Milwaukee County Zoo

MILWAUKEE, WI — Two new female female cheetahs were introduced to the Milwaukee County Zoo, the zoo announced Wednesday.

Mila and Minnie have been at the Big Cat Country exhibit since Nov. 3, the zoo said in a statement. The 4-year-old sisters arrived in early October from the Caldwell Zoo in Texas.

The sisters are alert and only guard their food minimally but seem to get along well together, the zoo said. The zoo's third cheetah, Imara, 16, will remain in a separate group from the sisters.

The two sisters quarantined for 30 days to make sure they were healthy and could join the zoo's general animal population, the zoo said. Quarantine is standard for all incoming animals.

Mila is about one-third smaller than a normal cheetah, and her front legs are a bit bowed from congenital defects when she was born, the zoo said.

Minnie and Mila will soon join training sessions with their keepers so they can eventually participate in their own health care, the zoo said. The cheetahs will learn to present particular body parts or step onto a scale during checkups.

Cheetahs are listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, the zoo said. Scientists call for cheetahs to be moved to the "endangered" list, the zoo added.

Human-wildlife conflict, loss of habitat and prey, and poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking threaten cheetah populations and underscore the need for more cheetah conservation, the zoo said.