December 4th is International Cheetah Day. On your typical day to the zoo, I imagine most families aren’t flocking to the cheetah exhibit – that is if the zoo you’re visiting that day even has a cheetah exhibit. For a majority of the zoos we’ve visited that do have cheetahs, you’ll typically find them relaxing in the grass, catching up on some Z’s.There are, however, a few zoos that go above and beyond to display cheetahs at their finest.
It just so happened that our family’s first Zoo-cation in October 2014 contained the two zoos that (from our vantage point) are leading the way in engaging visitors with the abilities of cheetahs. On our visit to the Columbus Zoo, we were closing out our day by visiting “The Heart of Africa”on our way to the giraffe feeding station. The giraffes are in an open savanna with zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, and a few other animals. It’s a very large area with plenty of room for the animals to roam. In the front of the exhibit,near the raised up walking paths, is a smaller area with a watering hole. The zoo staff rotates the animals every few hours to the watering hole area,simulating life in the wild.
Around the water hole is where we found ourselves waiting for the giraffe feeding, when – unexpected to us – they started the “Cheetah Run”.On the other side of the walkway was their cheetah exhibit. A few times per day during the summer they bring the cheetahs to the water hole and put on a demonstration where they pull a stuffed toy on a string around a series of pulleys, allowing visitors to see the cheetah reach nearly top speed as it chases after its toy. Of all the shows we’ve watched throughout our zoo expeditions, seeing the world’s fastest cat never gets old to me. It’s both thrilling and mesmerizing as the cheetah zips around the turns in pursuit of the toy.
The other interesting part about the Columbus Zoo’s cheetah exhibit is that they raise the cheetahs alongside golden retrievers. At one visit to the Zoo, they even let the golden retriever run through the water hole chasing after the toy – which I have to say although it was humorous was slightly less jaw-dropping than the cheetah. You can learn more about the Zoo’s program of raising dogs and cheetahs together on their website.
The very next day on our trip to the Cincinnati Zoo, we were surprised to see that they too had a cheetah run! The Cheetah Run at Cincinnati is more of a show, where the audience sits in bleachers as opposed to a raised boardwalk, and the staff brings introduces the crowd to several other animals,like Walter the Warthog and a serval. Nonetheless, the run part of the presentation was the same – a series of pullies, a toy leading the way, and a cheetah hot on its tail in pursuit.
Seeing animals in action is one of our favorite things to do at the zoo! So although it might be cold wherever you are, I encourage you to get out there, explore some animals you might not be as familiar with, and Zoo With Us!
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