Wild animals belong in the wild, not in your living room or back yard.
“Cheetahs are my favourite animal,” said the British guest sitting opposite me at the dinner table. “I’d do anything to have one as a pet.” I paused, stunned, my fork halfway to my mouth. Incredulous, I responded, “You want a cheetah as a house pet?” “Oh yes, absolutely,” she replied. “A cheetah in your house?” I was stuck in gob smacked mode.
“Yea. We had one on our safari truck once. We’d stopped near a pair of cheetahs, and one jumped on the hood of the Land Cruiser then leapt onto the roof. I thought it might jump down through the sunroof onto the seat beside me.” I understand that it would be a heart stopping moment to be that close to a cheetah, but I did not see how that translated to wanting to own one as a pet.
Cheetahs often sit up on termite mounds to get a view of the landscape. Responsible guides and drivers are careful to give the lanky cats enough space they are not tempted use the truck for a lookout. Images of cheetahs on or in safari trucks go viral when they are posted on social media. This puts cheetahs at risk and fuels fantasies of people like the woman sitting at my table. A cheetah sitting next to a tourist promotes the illusion that cheetahs are friendly big pussy cats. If you care about protecting wildlife, don’t “like” or share these images. Cheetahs’ lives are at risk with this kind of promotion.
Sleepy cheetahs with full tummies look as benign as a house cat. In fact, they are fierce hunters. We followed a cheetah for a few hours one day as she patiently stalked a small group of Thompson gazelles. She did not initiate her high-speed chase until she was so close she had a good chance for success. Death was quick for the gazelle. Cheetahs kill their prey with a stranglehold to the neck. Unlike lions or leopards, they only eat freshly killed meat. Hyenas and lions often wait for a cheetah to make the kill then they move in to steal the meal for themselves. Tough luck for the cheetah!
September’s issue of National Geographic features a story about the criminal and tragic world of cheetah trafficking. Cheetah cubs are kidnapped from their mothers at an early age. Few survive the trauma of transportation to potential buyers. The small number of cubs that are rescued are taken to sanctuaries where they live out the rest of their lives in captivity. Without the essential early training by their mother, captive cubs cannot survive in the wild.
Fewer than 7,000 adult cheetahs are left in the wild, according to recent estimates, most in southern and eastern Africa. International commercial trade of cheetahs has been banned since 1975. Even so, from 2010 through 2019, more than 3,600 live cheetahs were for sale or sold illegally worldwide, with only about 10 percent intercepted by law enforcement, says Patricia Tricorache, a researcher with Colorado State University who’s been tracking the cheetah trade for 15 years. National Geographic September 2021 issue.
I’ll never forget the sad cries of a lone mother cheetah who returned from a hunt and could not find her cubs. In this instance lions or hyenas probably found where she hid the cubs for the day. Traffickers in wildlife leave many cheetah mothers grieving for their babies.
Taking an animal from the wild is a recipe for disaster for both the cat and the owner. Cheetahs weigh between 46 and 159 pounds, are 26–37 inches at the shoulder and 3.5–4.11 feet long. They can accelerate faster than most sports cars, going to 60 mph in 3 seconds flat! It is a sight to behold to see a cheetah in full chase. As a photographer you must have your camera settings ready or all you get is a blur. Sadly, a captive cheetah would never have the space to run free.
There is a coalition of 5 (now 4) male cheetahs on the Maasai Mara called the Tano Bora. The Netflix series Night on Earth features these brothers in the TV episode on the savannah. I highly recommend the show. These world-famous cheetahs are ambassadors for their species. I hope shows like these convince people the best way to love cheetahs is to support their protection in the wild.
Want to help cheetahs today? Learn how Wildlife Direct is protecting cheetah habitat in Kenya, teaching youth to be conservationists, and bringing wildlife criminals to justice. No contribution is too small. We can each make a difference in the lives of cheetahs and the people who protect them!
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