Cheetah Cub Named Taylor Swift Is Doing ‘All Too Well’ After Rescue from Illegal Pet Trade

Taylor Swift, the cheetah cub, is just a few months old, and she’s already had a few eras to her short life.

The baby big cat started life in the wild with a mother to take care of her, but then was poached from her natural habitat in Africa by individuals looking to sell the animal into the illegal wildlife pet trade, according to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).

CCF — a nonprofit based in Namibia dedicated to protecting the declining cheetah population —rescued the cheetah cub and pulled her out of the exotic pet trade before she made it too far. When rescuers got hold of Taylor Swift, the cheetah, the cub was only three pounds and not much larger than the kitten of a domestic house cat.

According to CCF, Taylor Swift, the cub, is now out of the woods and doing “all too well.” The cub spent her first weeks with the organization getting used to a healthy diet and starting touch training. The training “is essential to desensitize cubs to the gentle touch since Taylor will begin her vaccine regime soon,” CFF founder and executive director Dr. Laurie Marker said in a statement.

“It may not be the Eras tour, but so far Taylor’s training has been very successful,” she added.

Marker said the cheetah cub was named Taylor Swift to honor the music superstar’s devotion to felines.

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CCF is a leader in cheetah research and conservation, working to help the vulnerable creatures, which number less than 7,000 in the wild. The organization is headquartered in Namibia but recently opened a second wildlife reserve in Somaliland, specifically designed to care for cheetahs rescued from the illegal wildlife pet trade.

Taylor Swift is settling in well at the Somaliland center and adapting to life at a wildlife reserve. According to CCF, the center is a 1,800-acre facility with 5-12-acre enclosures, where rescue cheetahs can recover with access to the outdoors and plenty of space to play.

Credit: dotdashmeredith.com