News and Stories

We are sad to share the news that over the weekend we lost one of the best cheetah ambassadors, Savanna. She lived a very long life here at the Cincinnati Zoo and touched the hearts of millions during her nearly 14 years of life. Savanna was born during the week we were filming a running video segment for National Geographic in 2012 at the Mast Farm Cheetah Breeding Center. Since she was a single cub, her mother could not raise her, so she came to our ambassador team and was hand raised. She was paired with a puppy, Max, as a companion to be raised with for her first few years growing up.

It’s serendipitous that Savanna was born during the National Geographic photo shoot week since she would go on to promote that footage on a visit to the Today Show in NYC with zoo director Thane Maynard. On our way out of the studio Savanna even met musician and actor Ice T and his wife Coco, who were arriving for their segment on the Today Show.

While the beginning of her life started with national fame, Savanna is best known for her appearances at the Cheetah Encounter, where she educated hundreds of thousands of visitors during her life. Savanna was an incredible runner in the encounters and for years was one of our fastest cheetahs. The fastest we recorded her running was 61mph! Most cheetahs love catching the dog toy “prey” at the end of the runs, but Savanna was different; she did not care about the lure and at the end of runs would often sit there looking proud of her run. She would leave the toy and walk to the front of the yard to get scratches from her trainers. The two things she loved most, running and her people.

In the last few years of her life, Savanna retired to the cheetah habitat where she started to receive specialized care for her senior status and after we noticed some arthritis developing in her spine. With the help of our Animal Health team, we were able to give her medication to help with the arthritis and monitor her closely over the last few years to make sure she was happy and comfortable.

Even though she was “retired” from running, Savanna continued to be an ambassador at the cheetah habitat where guests would see her loving her time out in the yard, chewing on a bone, getting attention from her trainers or lounging in the sunshine. Savanna continued to go on enrichment walks before the zoo opened and loved walking around the park especially during festival of lights where she enjoyed looking at all the animal lanterns and the twinkling lights in the bamboo forest.

Savanna was known for her calm and sweet demeanor. While female cheetahs can be particular and have prickly personalities, Savanna was always friendly, purring loudly for anyone and everyone around. She accepted all her care givers throughout the years.  She was loved not only by her trainers, but many guests and people over the years and will be missed by all.