The cheetahs were born on Nov 7, hot on the heels of the births of a Malayan sun bear, a white rhinoceros, two white-faced saki monkeys and two black howler monkeys.

The 10 animals - from five species that rarely breed in captivity - were born within a five-month period.

Breeding cheetahs, which number 9,000 to 12,000 worldwide, is especially hard because they are very choosy when it comes to mates, and because male cheetahs have a low sperm count.

They are also rare because of their short lifespans - up to five years in the wild and 15 years in captivity.

Mr Alagappasamy Chellaiyah, the zoo's senior assistant curator, said that the female cheetah has to be a good mother because there have been cases at other zoos where the mother either rejected or ate her own cubs.

She also needs a good environment to form a relationship and liking for the male before she agrees to mate.

In this case, the female cheetah clearly took a liking to Alex, the male cheetah who fathered the cubs.

Mr Alagappasamy said: 'Before she was pregnant, I saw them running around, chasing each other every day.

'For cheetahs, it is like a love story. They chase each other, then eventually the female will present herself and the male will mate with her.'

The zoo staff realised she was pregnant when she started eating more and her belly appeared heavier.

They put her in a separate breeding den, away from other cheetahs, because they were afraid they would attack the cubs when they were born.

The zoo has six cheetahs in all. Five of them, including the cubs' parents, were brought in from South Africa last year.

The cubs need to be nurtured and are weaned when they are six months old. For now, they are susceptible to infections. They will be put on display only when they become stronger, in February or later.

The public will be able to see them on certain days for a short time, and there will be a naming contest to give them African names.

Mr Alagappasamy said the zoo wanted to try breeding the cubs' mother with the rare King Cheetah next.

Dr Cheng Wen Haur, the zoo's executive director, said: 'We are very happy - it was one species that we hadn't been able to breed all these years.

'We will continue with all those species that we have been successful in breeding.

'I will be looking at sending some of them back to nature, and also exchanging them with other zoos.'