A Day in the Life of the University of Pretoria. 06 October 2009

On this "Day in the life of the University of Pretoria" UP’s Wildlife Clinic and Veterinary Academic Hospital performed a caesarean on a cheetah and delivered three healthy cubs.

According to an article in the local press, Juno, a four year old cheetah from Bloemfontein gave birth to a stillborn cub earlier in the week and all signs of labour appeared to have stopped. Staff from the Cheetah Experience, however, noticed movement in her abdomen, signaling that there were more cubs waiting to be born. After being examined at Faculty of Veterinary Science’s Wildlife Clinic, Dr Jacques O’Dell decided to perform a caesarean section to limit the risk to the mother and unborn cubs. The average weight of the cubs was between 250g and 500g and they started to suckle from their mom shortly after being born.

The University of Pretoria Archives (UPA) preserves the history of the University of Pretoria. The UPA has an extensive photo collection and clipping collection. Please contact us on [email protected] to share your memories of Tukkies or to access our collection.