Posts Tagged ‘video’

Sep
15

Behind the Scenes: Breakfast of Champions

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Featured

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.

cheetah barn kitchen-featured

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.

cheetah barn kitchen wall

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.

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Sep
11

Behind the Scenes: Wake Up Call

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Featured

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.

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Sep
02

We're Back – Training Update

Posted by in Training

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.

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Aug
11

SOS Cheetah Part 3: Return of the Cheetah Cam

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Conservation,Enrichment

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.

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Jul
01

A Good Day to Go to the Movies

Posted by in Adaptations,Conservation,Featured

What better way to beat the Houston heat than to watch some great videos about cheetahs and dogs? Time to crank up the AC, make some popcorn and enjoy the show.

This first video stars our very own Kito and Kiburi and includes some fun facts about cheetahs that you always wanted to know.


 

Next, a great National Geographic video about the Cheetah Conservation Fund and the role of Anatolian Shepherd Dogs in the conservation of cheetahs in Namibia.

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Jun
06

The Scoop on Poop

Posted by in Featured,Off Topic

Zookeepers spend a LOT of time looking at poop, it’s part of our job. I just found a great website on the topic from the Minnesota Zoo thanks to AZA . There’s a poop-themed game (I got a perfect score, by the way) and be sure you have the sound turned up!

Still can’t get enough about poop? Check out this video:

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May
31

Training 101: Back to Kindergarten

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Training

Sometimes we teach an animal how to do something then one day they won’t do it any more. Maybe they forget, maybe they’re confused, we don’t always know why. Regardless of the reason, one way we fix it is to “go back to kindergarten”, a trainer’s term for taking a few steps backward in the process.

After a few sessions of really speedy running, the cheetahs started to slow down. There are a couple ways we could handle this. The first method is to find something else that makes cheetahs want to run fast. Hmmm, what could that be…

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Ha Ha. Carnivore keepers think they are SO funny

Cheetahs love to chase things. In fact, they can’t help it, if something is moving, they want to chase it. When they were little, one of their favorite games was to chase a ball. Ta-dah! we found a way to get the cheetahs to run again. And lick the camera, what’s that about?

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May
29

Training 101: Positive Reinforcement

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Training

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.

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May
21

Cue the Cheetah Cam!

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program

Hey, that’s a little close, watch out for the —

Don’t worry, no cheetahs or cameras were harmed in this little test. Video is a great tool for animal trainers and we can use it to go back and see what worked and what didn’t work.  We’ve been taking video of the cheetahs and dogs since they arrived here and it also helps us see how much they have improved.

Of course, video also makes a great tool for a blog so we’ll be posting a lot of it here. If you want to see videos or more than just cheetahs and dogs, check out the Houston Zoo’s YouTube channel.

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