TURTLECREEK TOWNSHIP, OH (FOX19) - Cincinnati Zoo officials said Wednesday they are ready to apply for permits needed to begin construction of a $1.5 million cheetah-breeding facility in Warren County.
The zoo owns more than 600 acres in the area and plans to move cheetahs from facilities in Clermont County. Forty-one cubs have been produced there since 2002, zoo officials said.
The Warren County Board of Commissioners recently approved rezoning the zoo properties and other land in the township, a zoo spokeswoman confirmed.
That paves the way for the zoo to apply for a construction permit. Officials hope to open this summer.
The zoo is one of nine AZA-accredited institutions that participate in a cheetah Breeding Center Coalition (BCC).
Working closely with the Cheetah Species Survival Plan, the BCC's goal is to create a sustainable cheetah population that will prevent extinction of the world's fastest land animal.
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