She is very fast, her name means “protect” in Swahili, and it’s hoped that Werribee Open Range Zoo’s newest arrival will be able to offer some friendship to one of her furry friends.
An 18-month-old female cheetah, Kulinda, arrived at the zoo late last month from Monarto Zoo in South Australia. She will spend 30 days in quarantine before making her public debut.
Zoo general manager Russel Traher said while Kulinda would share facilities with the zoo’s elderly male cheetah Inkosana, the pair would remain in separate areas to replicate the natural social structure in the wild, where females are solitary unless they are raising cubs.
“After the loss of his brother Kaidi last year, the nearby presence of Kulinda will be comforting for our elderly male Inkosana, while providing our new arrival with her own territory,” Mr Traher said. “We were fortunate Kulinda had reached an age where she was ready to leave the family group and needed her own space.”
Keepers said Kulinda had been confident and relaxed as she explored her new surroundings.
She is one of 17 cubs born at Monarto since its breeding program began in 2003.
There are an estimated 10,000 cheetahs in the wild, all of them being classed as vulnerable.
