Last Monday the Clay Center Zoo welcomed two cheetah cubs. Urkel and Nellie are 6-7 month old cheetah cubs and are on loan from Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, KS. They are the first cheetahs the zoo has ever had. They’ve been awaiting the arrival of the cubs and zoo curator Garett Payne said they have had the habitat ready for some time and were waiting for the vet to give the green light on their health. Now Urkel and Nellie have had time to acclimate to their temporary home in Clay Center. Four months from now the cubs will go back to Tanganyika and two more cheetah cubs are expected after they reach certain milestones in their development. In the future the zoo hopes to get involved in a cheetah breeding program with Tanganyika. Admission to the zoo is free and open daily to the public from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.