Smithsonian’s cheetah cam goes live as cheetah Zura gives birth to five cubs

Cheetah named Zura gave birth to five adorable cubs at the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia — and you can spy on them night and day.

The camera offers a rare opportunity to see a mama cheetah caring for her newborn cubs, while you listen to the intimate vocalizing of soft chirps, tiny purrs, and meows.

Whether the cats are nursing, grooming or wrestling around, the cheetah cam provides the sights and sounds of every moment.

But this story is about much more than adorable baby animals. Cheetahs face conservation challenges, with just 7,000 individuals remaining in the wild.

Notably, this live feed is the same one used by the animal caretaker staff to monitor the big cats remotely from the Smithsonian facility in Front Royal.”Unlike animals living at our Zoo in nearby Washington, DC, cubs born here experience limited human contact early in their lives,” officials said.

That helps the cubs bond with their mother while giving the staff an opportunity for behavioral research not possible inside a zoo habitat.