Cheetah octuplets in Missouri celebrate their first birthday

Eight cheetah cubs born at the Saint Louis Zoo celebrated their first birthday on Monday.

The octuplets are the largest litter ever raised by a cheetah in an American zoo. The five girls and three boys are named after the first eight numbers in Swahili: Moja, Mbili, Tatu, Nne, Tano, Sita, Saba, and Nane.

As the cubs spent their first months playing together in their enclosure, the zoo staff have had the pleasure of watching their personalities develop. Steve Bircher, the zoo's mammals curator, said "We have a couple that might be bolder than others with the way they play with their enrichment, or the way they chase one and other. We are starting to see these differences in personalities. Just like us, they have distinct personalities."

To celebrate their birthday, the zoo released a series of pictures that shows the early lives of this special litter.