Visitors to Fota Wildlife Park will be able to see the first cheetah cubs born in captivity in Ireland.
The park was acquired four years ago by University College Cork (UCC) who in partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland created Ireland's first wildlife park. Its focus is on breeding endangered and exotic species of animals.
The five female cubs bring to nine the number of cheetahs in Fota Wildlife Park. At eight weeks old they leave their den for short periods to explore the world outside.
The cubs' mother Maeve came to Fota from Namibia, and their father Daithí who was born in the Netherlands came here from Dublin Zoo as part of a breeding programme.
An endangered species, cheetahs are now extinct in Asia, and
Nnumbers are rapidly diminishing in Africa.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 6 December 1984. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
