Get in the game
This Week's Top Leaders.

Cats

Rare Cheetah Cubs Born in Japan

the daily dish More on PawNation: Cats, Cheetahs, Discovery, Newborns, Science, Weird, Zoo

By Paul Ciampanelli Feb 6th 2013

The Tama Zoo in Tokyo, Japan, is celebrating what is both an adorable and a very rare new birth in their park. Five cheetah cubs were born there on Jan. 6, and two of the newborns have the distinct and rare mutation that makes them "king" cheetahs, according to "Today."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


A king cheetah is a cheetah whose spots appear merged into splotches that look like stripes. The pattern results from a recessive gene that both parents must carry, making it very rarely seen in captivity and almost never seen in the wild. Only six king cheetahs have ever been observed in the wild, according to CheetahSpot.com.

SEE MORE CHEETAHS:
  • Mini Astrid/flickr
    1 of 10
  • Mark Dumont/flickr
    2 of 10
  • Alamy
    3 of 10
  • katsrcool/flickr
    4 of 10
  • Alamy
    5 of 10
  • Alamy
    6 of 10
  • fronteirofficial/flickr
    7 of 10
  • beontheroad.com/flickr
    8 of 10
  • Alamy
    9 of 10
  • Alamy
    10 of 10


King cheetahs were at one time believed to be a different species, but that changed when their rare coats were discovered to come from a genetic mutation.

With these five new cubs, Tama Zoo now boasts a total of 22 cheetahs.

CHEETAH CUB AND PUPPY ARE BEST FRIENDS:

See More Animals

See More Animals

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

2 Comments

Filter by:
YuukoBaskerville

R00d

April 04 2013 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
siscosdad

I wish they had been born here. Since the Japanese killed my uncle, and tried to kill my dad, I don't much care for them

February 06 2013 at 7:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

You Say.…?

  • button.wow
  • button.lol
  • button.aww
  • button.poop

Pawpular right now

Who is Cutest?

Boots Prim
Vote Now
More Cuteness

More on PawNation

From:

From:

From:

From:

Most Pawpular:

Most Recent:

  • © 2013 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
AOL Family
BermanBraun