Cheetah cubs survive powerful storms, mother’s illness at Prague Zoo, but curator warns “it’s still a long run”

September 25, 2026 / 10:57 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Five cheetah cubs had to survive a weather scare and the illness of their mother after their birth at the Prague Zoo. But they are doing well now, the zoo said on Friday.

The zoo said the quintuplets — four males and one female — that were born on June 18 had faced a tough time from the start.

Their mother, Daenerys, opted to give birth in an outdoor enclosure with a period of strong storms hitting Prague soon after.

Despite her inexperience, Daenerys took "exemplary" good care of her first cubs under such weather conditions, the zoo said.

Daenerys protected the five from torrential rains, licking water from their fluffy fur to keep them dry, curator Pavel Brandl said.

"Thanks to the mother's attentiveness, all five cubs survived the heavy downpours," the zoo wrote in a statement. "Soaking and subsequent pneumonia — along with predation — are common causes of mortality in cheetah cubs in the wild. It appears, however, that the mother dried her young by licking water from their fluffy coats with a characteristic dorsal mantle."

To make things worse, Daenerys suffered from an intestinal infection in August.

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/