‘Our little prince’: RIP Strike, the oldest cheetah at the Oregon Zoo

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Strike, the Oregon Zoo’s beloved elderly cheetah, died at 15 years old on Wednesday.

Zookeepers say his health had been in rapid decline due to his “advanced age,” so he was humanely euthanized. At the time of his death, he was the second oldest cheetah in an AZA-accredited zoo.

According to the zoo, most cheetahs live to be roughly 12 years old — though female cheetahs tend to live longer and male cheetahs tend to die around 8 years old. This made Strike a “geriatric” member of his species, his caretaker said.

“Strike lived a long life, and he’ll be very missed,” Zookeeper Anne Lauerman said. “He shared a close bond with his care staff, and we gave him a lot of special attention as an older cheetah.”

Lauerman said Strike “loved being brushed, and he was known to purr very loudly to greet his care staff in the mornings.” 

“He had a ring of spots around his forehead,” Lauerman said, “so we liked to call him our little prince.”

Strike came to the Oregon Zoo in 2011 with his brother Ranger, who died in 2022. They were both born in Texas in 2010.