Cincinnati Zoo Cheetah Dies - :: Cincinnati news story :: LOCAL 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden says a member of the Zoo's Cat Ambassador Program, a 12-year old male cheetah named Moya, passed away on Monday, January 26. Moya passed away during a seizure a condition he lived with for several years. In the wild a cheetah’s life expectancy is approximately 8-10 years. Moya was a part of the Cat Ambassador Program for over 11 years. The Cat Ambassador Program is an educational assembly that takes cheetahs and other Cat Ambassadors to hundreds of thousands of school children each year. Moya came to the Zoo from the Cheetah Outreach in South Africa as a young cub. At maturity Moya weighed 120 pounds and stood 34 inches at the shoulder. On June 13, 2000, commemorating the opening of the Kentucky Speedway, Moya set the world record for all land mammals, including humans, in the Olympic 100-meter dash, certified by Road Running Technical Council of USA Track & Field. In May 2007 the Cincinnati Zoo opened the Cheetah Encounter so Zoo visitors could experience the grace and speed of these amazing animals. Moya demonstrated his running ability daily as the Cat Ambassador’s "elder statesmen" and ran for his last time just weeks before he passed away.
