Press Release
February 3, 2005 - For Immediate Release

Cheetah Cub, Maximus, Travels to New Home

Singleton cub with rare bloodline travels from birthplace, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center to the White Oak Conservation Center in Florida

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in partnership with White Oak Conservation Center in Florida are contributing to the important conservation of the endangered cheetah. Fossil Rim welcomed a new addition to their Cheetah Program on October 17, 2004 named Maximus (Max). Born a singleton – the only cub in his litter, he was hand raised by Fossil Rim’s resident cheetah specialist, Mary Jo Stearns, with the help of “Punkie”, Mary Jo’s wonderfully maternal white boxer. Mary Jo has successfully hand raised many cheetah cubs at Fossil Rim. Normally, both in the wild and in captivity, cheetah mothers abandon a single cub. “Interestingly, Max’s singleton status may be due to his father’s old age. Nature has endowed all male cheetahs with poor sperm quality, and Reggie is at the tail end of his reproductively active age”, says Holly Haefele, DVM, associate veterinarian of Fossil Rim, who will be escorting Max to a new home at White Oak Conservation Center, Florida.

Dr. Patrick Condy, Executive Director of Fossil Rim, states that; “White Oak, along with Fossil Rim, have bred, raised, and hold a significant proportion of the cheetahs to be found in zoos around the USA, and have long and excellent track records in captive cheetah management, as well as in cooperation with each other.”

In the wild, cheetah cubs stay with mom till they are about 18 months old, and have litter mates with which to play and learn. Additionally, most wild males live in coalitions of two or three. Max already seems to innately know this, and really dislikes being left alone. Max is moving into his fourth month of age, by when normally he would be introduced to other cheetah cubs at Fossil Rim to help him on the road to growing up as a regular cheetah. Unfortunately, Fossil Rim presently has no other cubs.

Max’s lineage is very important to the cheetah population conservation community in the United States. Max’s father, “Reggie”, is 12 years old and came to the United States from Holland and was of a lineage unrelated to cheetah in the United States. This was Reggie’s first progeny. Reggie’s mother “Susa” was born in Namibia of wild parents. Susa had very few offspring and none reproduced except for Reggie.

After a nation-wide search, it was found that White Oak Conservation Center, near Yulee, Florida, has cubs that are about four months older than Max, and are also having to be hand raised. It being essential that Max be integrated into a cheetah group as soon as possible, the White Oak Conservation Center’s group of three cubs is clearly the best option for Max at this time. “The transfer of Max to White Oak from Fossil Rim, is the best possible arrangement there is for Max now and over the longer term” says Stearns. “At White Oak, Max will have the chance to become behaviorally as normal as possible as he matures. In due course his opportunities for breeding at White Oak will be excellent,” continues Stearns.

“Max’s transfer will be on a standard breeding loan basis, commonly practiced between members of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA)” says Kelley Snodgrass, Director of Animal Care at Fossil Rim. “It means Fossil Rim remains Max’s owner. We have done this often before between us and White Oak, always with great success”, says Snodgrass.

The transfer of Max to Florida was done by driving him in the Fossil Rim official Land Rover Kalahari vehicle. Max arrived safely on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 and is adjusting to his new surroundings.

He was originally scheduled to travel by private aircraft, owned and piloted by Captain Peter Coltman of American Airlines with fuel donated by Business Jet Center of Love Field, Dallas and Sky-Tec Partners Limited, Granbury however weather prevented the mission by air transportation.

About Fossil Rim: The not-for-profit Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is a 1,800 acre facility that specializes in captive-breeding programs for endangered and threatened animal species. Fossil Rim is located in Glen Rose, Texas, southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. To help fund its award-winning conservation efforts, Fossil Rim operates a scenic wildlife drive that is open to the public. The 2-4 hour drive offers a unique opportunity for visitors, in all weather across all seasons, to closely observe more than 50 species of wild animals living in a near-natural environment, as well as enjoy a café and gift store. Fossil Rim partners in international species survival and recovery efforts for 14 endangered species of regional, national and international importance. Fossil Rim is approximately a one-hour drive from Fort Worth, a two-hour drive from Dallas, a three-hour drive from Austin and a four-hour drive from Houston. For more information call (254) 897-2960.

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