A cheetah has made a 900 mile journey to reach its new home at Colchester Zoo. 

The Maldon Road attraction has welcomed female cheetah, Anika, who was transported from Vienna Zoo in Austria last month.

This is the first animal import to the zoo since the UK left the EU in 2020.

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The 11-month-old cheetah arrived at the Colchester Zoo as part of a breeding recommendation.

Anika was slightly nervous when she first arrived but by the next day, she had relaxed and immediately began exploring her new home.

A spokesman from Colchester Zoo said: "Our new cheetah actually arrived without a name, so as our animal care team learned more about her personality, they decided to name her Anika.

"Her name means ‘sweet-faced’ in Afrikaans which is fitting for her beautiful appearance and friendly nature.

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"Cheetahs are very solitary animals out in the wild so a female would usually be on her own until she comes into season and wants to mate.

"Therefore, Anika is currently off-show to the public to give her some time to settle into her new home and to become more comfortable with our animal care team.

Gazette: A stock picture of a cheetah. Colchester Zoo has welcomed a new cheetah from Vienna ZooA stock picture of a cheetah. Colchester Zoo has welcomed a new cheetah from Vienna Zoo (Image: Pexels)

"We hope to gradually introduce Anika to our two male Cheetahs, Abasi and Azizi, very soon!"

The news comes after the zoo announced its warthog family had expanded once again with the arrival of two new male hoglets.

The zoo has two adult warthogs, Hermione and Moja.

A spokesman said: “On March 8, Colchester Zoo’s Animal Care Team were delighted to discover that its female Warthog, Hermione, had given birth to two healthy piglets.

"Since their welcomed arrival, the team have been able to assess the health of the piglets and confirm they are both males."