February 7, 2005—On a snowy Washington, D.C., day, a cheetah cub finds warmth atop its mother, Tumai (TOO-may). Tumai's ten-week-old litter, two males and two females, made their public debut Saturday at the National Zoo. They are the first cheetah cubs born at the zoo in its 115-year history.

The baby cats represent a small leap forward for the world's fastest land animals, which rarely breed in capitivity. There are an estimated 260 cheetahs in North American zoos and about 15,000 in the wild.

—Ted Chamberlain

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