It's been very busy in Monarto Zoo's carnivore department lately. Last week saw us take an opportunity to anaesthetise the Spotted Hyena cub for a health check, micro-chipping, vaccination and DNA sampling. While all of these procedures are necessary, the DNA sample is the one keepers have been waiting for so we can finally stop referring to the cub as 'it'! Since both male and female Spotted Hyenas display very similar looking genitals, the females have a pseudo-penis, DNA is essential to confirm the sex of the cub. So, as it reaches six months old, visually we are almost certain 'it' is a male, but we wait for DNA results to confirm.

Cute cub!

We knew it wouldn't take long for Monarto Zoo's newest carnivore to become brave enough to step outside the safe walls of its den. During the school holidays our Spotted Hyena cub, now a month old, soaked up its first rays of sunshine while some very lucky visitors watched from the carnivore shuttle bus. Mum, Kigali, was relaxing just outside the den when the cub came out, walked around her, and then over her! It's still a little nervous in the presence of its much larger half-sister, Forest, though it will soon learn it need not worry as Kigali is a great protector.

Here is a cute little video of our almost 4 week old cheetah cub. She has now started to play a little after her regular milk feeds very gently batting the air and lightly chewing on her teddy. She also purrs a little louder than she used to, although you still need to listen carefully to hear it! In the background of the video you may hear a beating sound, this is a beating heart toy which simulates a heartbeat and relaxes her as she is on her own between feeds. She is still being fed five times a day and now calls us when she hears us coming to feed her.

Our female cheetah cub, born on the afternoon of Saturday, June 2, is now eighteen days old. She's doing very well and is a strong willed cub having taken after her mother, Nakula. Nakula is from the first litter we bred at Monarto Zoo back in 2003.

Apart from a little hiccup last week which led the cub to shy away from her feeds she has steadily increased in weight since we began hand raising her, putting on an additional 250g! Maybe she had a sore mouth or didn't like the teat we were using but with lots of patience from her raisers, we got her through it and she's feeding well again!

Her little claws have become quite sharp, this week we gave her a manicure as she was beginning to shred our hands during feeding, a true carnivore! Her legs have also become stronger and she can now move around her 'home' more easily, even though her baby steps are still a bit wobbly.

She's changing and developing so fast, we'll keep you up to date as often as possible.

Michelle Lloyd

Carnivore Keeper, Monarto Zoo

Before we come down from the amazing high Monarto Zoo's Cheetah cub has us all on, I'm excited to inform you of another addition to our carnivore family. On Tuesday, June 12 shortly after 2:00am Kigali, our 15 year old Spotted Hyena, gave birth to a single cub. All appears well with the cub seen suckling regularly and Kigali getting plenty of rest. Spotted Hyenas usually have one or two cubs and this is Kigali's fourth litter at Monarto in six years.

 Mum, Kigali, at Monarto Zoo.

Kigali has remained on exhibit for public display throughout her gestation, housed with her daughter, Forest, and male, Gamba. As she's still on exhibit the sex of her cub will remain unknown for a few weeks yet, even to keepers. Kigali and clan are continuing their routine of coming off exhibit each morning for their food, while the cub hides away in an especially dug-out section at the rear of the den. Although hyena cubs are born with eyes open, a full set of teeth and the ability to move around it's not brave enough to venture out of the den, and therefore is not visible to the public. It will be at least a few weeks before the cub ventures out on its own accord. Keepers and vets will give a health check and sex the cub at around six weeks of age. Female Spotted Hyenas have a pseudo-penis, male like genetalia, and this makes confirming the sex of hyenas difficult. Although an animal may look to all appearances like a male...it could well be female!

Kigali is doing a great job looking after her cub.

While the cub remains in the den keepers are able to watch it suckle and interact with Kigali via cameras which were installed especially for the birth. The cameras have also enabled us to capture footage of the entire birth. This footage is very valuable and quite rare, at least among captive Spotted Hyenas in Australia, as Monarto Zoo houses the only female Spotted Hyenas in the country. Thankfully the novelty of destroying the cameras wore off after of our third set as the hyenas initially decided they preferred not to be watched!

Spotted Hyena cubs will suckle for 12-18 months, the longest of any carnivore. The lifespan of Spotted Hyenas is up to 35 years in captivity and there are only nine in Australia, all originating from Monarto Zoo. Kigali is originally from Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Claire Geister

Carnivore keeper, Monarto Zoo

Our little lioness has a name – Jahzara – an African name meaning ‘blessed princess’. She certainly represents the name well as we feel we are very lucky to have her. We would like to thank PETstock (the winners of our eBay naming auction) and their members for all of the suggested names.

Our little lion cub is 9 weeks old already! I weighed her mum, Kiamba, this morning then managed to coax the cub onto the scales with mum for the first time too – a healthy 6.5kg. She is showing a keen interest in her mum’s food, and Kiamba is slowly learning to share. While she is definitely still drinking mum’s milk to increase her strength and immunity, she has very sharp teeth to steal small bites off the 4kg pieces of meat we feed Kiamba daily.

The cub is much more mobile now and being seen out of the den most days, which has the other lionesses intrigued. They can’t access it yet but are certainly interested. It has also been seen from a distance by a lucky few visitors, viewing it from the lion exhibit on their bus tour.