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!
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.
The principles of animal training are the same for all species, from your dog at home to a cheetah at the zoo. Our favorite training method is positive reinforcement – simply put, when the animal does what the trainer asks, they get something they like (which in the case of cheetahs is a big pile of meat). The animal then makes a positive association with that behavior and wants to do it again.
As I mentioned earlier, we want to show off the cheetah’s speed. Contrary to popular opinion, cheetahs don’t spend their day racing around at 65 mph. Running is a lot of work, especially when your food just sits on a plate waiting for you.
The cheetahs were already trained to come to the trainer when called so we started by calling them out to the front of the exhibit. The faster they run, the bigger the treat. Check out the Cheetah Cam:
Fast running = Big Pile o’ Meat. See, this isn’t that hard.