Fota announces names of cheetah cubs born this year - and two are named after famous Cork sports stars

One of the cubs is named after Olympic track medallist, Sonia O’Sullivan, while another shares their name with Roy Keane 

Two of the five endangered Northern Cheetah cubs at Fota Wildlife Park have been named after famous Cork sports stars.

Fota Wildlife Park has announced the names of the five Northern Cheetah cubs which were born in August - two are named after famous Cork sporting heroes.

Over 900 names were submitted as part of a public competition to find names for the five cubs with Roy, Sonia, Arlo, Mia, and Cora coming out on top.

The five cubs playing on Cheetah Hill at Fota Wildlife Park in September. 

The winning names were selected by Faye McNamara from Cork (Arlo), Noel and Emma O'Herlihy from Limerick (Sonia), Sadhbh Barry Murphy from Cobh (Roy) and Ava Connolly from Dublin (Mia). All have received a year-long Conservation annual pass to the Co Cork wildlife park for their winning contributions. 

Julien Fonteneau, lead ranger at Fota said the animal ranger team had their work cut out trying to choose the winners from the huge choice of names.

“Two of the suggested names were very easy to select. Roy Keane shares the same birthday as the cubs and we felt it was very fitting to name a cheetah, as the fastest land animal, after our local Olympic track medallist, Sonia O’Sullivan.” 

Mum Grainne with one of her new cubs at Fota Wildlife Park in September. Pictures: Darragh Kane

The three females and two males were born on August 10 to mother Grainne, a four-year-old Cheetah born in Fota Wildlife Park. She previously gave birth to a litter of three cubs on Saint Patrick’s Day last year.

With less than 800 Northern Cheetahs left in the wild, the cubs are part of an endangered species. A total of 238 cheetahs have been born at Fota Wildlife Park since 1984.

Fota Wildlife Park cares for 135 species of which 75 species face the danger of extinction in the wild.