CINCINNATI -- A 12-year-old cheetah that Cincinnati Zoo officials took on visits to classrooms around southwest Ohio has died.
Zoo officials say the male cheetah named Moya died Jan. 26 after suffering a seizure brought on by old age. A cheetah's life expectancy in the wild is eight to 12 years.
Moya educated and entertained hundreds of thousands of children as part of the zoo's education and cheetah conservation efforts.
Program founder Cathryn Hilker described the 120-pound Moya as the most glorious cat she has ever seen. She says a male cheetah typically weighs 90 to 100 pounds.
Moya also moved rapidly, once covering 100 meters in 6.60 seconds.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature says there are fewer than 10,000 cheetahs worldwide.
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