Largest litter of cheetahs born in captivity

The largest litter of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus born in captivity is eight cubs, born on 26 November 2017 to, and reared by, Bingwa – a four-year-old female living at the St Louis Zoo River’s Edge Cheetah Breeding Center, in Missouri, USA. As of January 2018, she was on loan there from Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon, USA. In more than 430 captive cheetah litters officially documented by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), this is the first time that such a number has been recorded as being born to and reared solely by a single mother cheetah. The average cheetah litter size is three to four cubs. Bingwa's litter consists of three male and five female cubs, and their father is Jason, a nine-year-old male cheetah on loan from White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Florida, USA.

Despite her litter's exceptional size, Bingwa is proving to be an excellent, very adept mother to all of her cubs, grooming, caring and nursing every one of them attentively. Clearly, Bingwa is well-named – her name is Swahili for "champion".

The birth of these eight cubs is a result of a breeding recommendation from the AZA Cheetah Species Survival Plan (SSP), a programme to manage a genetically healthy population of cheetahs in North American zoos.