Three species of large cats have spots and to the casual observer, they may all look the same. But if you look a bit closer you’ll see they are actually quite distinct.
Let’s start with the easiest – the cheetah. Cheetah spots are fairly round and solid black.
Thanks to everyone who came out for Enrichment Day! The cheetahs and dogs made a another run with the lure course, one of their favorite activities.
Here’s a shot from the good old days when the cheetahs and dogs ran the course together.
maybe the dogs should get a head start
Now for the fun part – every day the cheetahs get some sort of enrichment and today its bones! Bones are not only entertaining for the cheetahs but are also good for their teeth since their regular diet is ground meat.
The bones are kept in a freezer at the lion building so Kevin and I have to head across the zoo to get them.
Since the cheetahs are already outside, we just toss the bones over the fence to them. This will keep them busy for a while.
yummy!
Breakfast is done, the yard is clean, now what? Well, it almost 9:00 so its time for the cheetahs to head back outside.
Before we leave the building, we update the dry erase board so that anyone who comes in the barn knows where all the animals are.
translation: dogs are in the back and side yards, cheetahs have access to the exhibit and barn
So all that food is great, but what goes in must come out. The next part of the morning routine is cleaning the yard. Kevin heads out into the yard in search of poop…
Next we’re off in search of the prize. Overnight rain means everything is a little bit mushy.
And here are our spoils for the whole day – if only I could have gotten t the Smell-o-Vision working…
its a dirty job
Oh wait, I think I found one more pile
and that's why they pay me the big bucks
*This is part 4/4 in our CheetahDog Blog Giveaway. Post a comment and you’ll be entered to win two free tickets to the Zoo! If you answer all 4 in this series, your chances of winning increase.
In the last post we told you all about what the cheetahs get for breakfast, so now its time to deliver.
You’ll see that the cheetahs are excited to get their breakfast each morning and we use this as part of their training to get them to come inside. The great outdoors is way more interesting but sometimes we need to lock them in the barn to get work done or if there is bad weather. If they always get a big bowl of food inside, then INSIDE=GOOD TIMES and they are eager to come for us each day.
And now its Kiburi’s turn
Next time: Cleaning the yard. Hopefully the Smell-O-Vision will be up and running by then.
*This is part 3/4 in our CheetahDog Blog Giveaway. Post a comment and you’ll be entered to win two free tickets to the Zoo! If you answer all 4 in this series, your chances of winning increase.
After we check on everyone in the morning, the first task of the day is breakfast. As you can see, the kitchen at the cheetah barn is quite cozy. That’s Carnivore Supervisor Kevin making breakfast today.
time to make the donuts...
It does have everything a cheetah keeper would need though – brushes, leashes, dog food, tools, cleaning supplies, and safety equipment.
Mmmmm yummy!
*This is part 2/4 in our CheetahDog Blog Giveaway. Post a comment and you’ll be entered to win two free tickets to the Zoo! If you answer all 4 in this series, your chances of winning increase.
Today is the first in a series of posts that will provide a behind the scenes look at cheetahs and dogs at the Houston Zoo. I have to admit, I’m stealing this idea from Alyson Footer, who writes a great blog about the Houston Astros, my favorite baseball team. Alyson just did a series about what goes on behind the scenes on a baseball road trip, and I thought “this is great, I bet people would like to know this about the zoo too.”
So first, we head down to the cheetah barn. It’s only 7:30am and the Grounds team is already out getting the zoo ready for another day.
Next, we head over to check on the animals. Unless the weather is bad, the cheetahs and dogs have the option to sleep out under the stars if they choose. Here’s Kito coming over to say good morning.
Or more likely he’s saying “where’s my breakfast?” Tune in next time to see what’s on the menu.
What kind of behind the scenes info about cheetahs and dogs would you like to see?
*This is part 1/4 in our CheetahDog Blog Giveaway. Answer our cheetah keepers’ questions and you’ll be entered to win two free tickets to the Zoo! If you answer all 4 in this series, your chances of winning increase.
Finally some reasonable weather has allowed us to do some more training. Below is some video of Carnivore Keeper Angie working with Kiburi on exhibit.
One of the highlights of SOS Cheetah was the lure course – here you can see some great footage of the world’s fastest land mammal…But first, its never-before-seen footage of the cheetah exhibit’s fastest canine:
The lure course is an important part of our Enrichment Program for the cheetahs and dogs. Not only is it great exercise, its an opportunity for them to exhibit a behavior that they would do in the wild – chasing down prey. Of course the prey in this case is a toy, which they gladly trade for some meat at the end of the run.