Cheetah Brothers Greet Visitors at Maryland Zoo

BALTIMORE, MD – Visitors to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore may "spot" two new additions.

Refu and Wgasa, a pair of cheetah, recently made themselves at home in the African Journey exhibit at the zoo in north Baltimore.

The nearly 2-year-old cheetahs came to Charm City by way of the San Diego Zoo, where they were born in July 2014.

While the cheetah brothers arrived in Baltimore earlier this year, they had to undergo a 30-day quarantine before exposure to the public, according to a statement from the Maryland Zoo.

Those who spot the cheetah in Baltimore, be warned: They may disappear in a pinch. Cheetah can run up to 70 mph and have been known to span 22 feet in one stride.

The addition of Refu and Wgasa to the African Journey exhibit comes about six months after the Baltimore zoo lost a pair of cheetah sisters, Tuli and Teep, to a rare disease. The pair had veno-occlusive disease, an irreversible liver disease that causes progressive loss of liver cells and scarring of veins in the liver, according to Head Veterinarian Ellen Bronson.

"Little is known about effective treatments for this disease in cheetahs, so we were in somewhat uncharted territory for developing a medical management plan," Bronson said.

Although the sisters had been responding to medications at first, they died within days of one another in January.

Tuli and Teep, who joined the Maryland Zoo in July 2015, died at nine years old. The average lifespan for a cheetah is 11.3 years, officials said.

The Maryland Zoo was tapped to house the newly installed cheetah brothers at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Cheetah Species Survival Plan, a committee that works to help conserve the species. There are 7,500 cheetah in the wild worldwide, according to the African Wildlife Federation.

Zoo officials say that the new cheetah—Refu and Wgasa—are in good health.

"They are young and healthy, and definitely have a good bond with one another," Maryland Zoo General Curator Mike McClure said in a statement. "They passed all their veterinary exams with flying colors, so we are excited to have them outside exploring and meeting our guests.”

Photo Credit: Maryland Zoo.