Shout out to the St. Louis Zoo! One of the best zoos in the country and it has completely free admission
I grew up around the STL area, and when I found out all zoos weren’t free I was so offended. It should always be free!
Yeah you can say a lot about St. Louis, but things like the zoo, art museum, and Science Center are all such amazing treasures i was fortunate to grow up with.
Kitties! 😻
“I am a mother. I am speed and muscle and death and you’ll find out if you think about touching my babies.”
I wanna cuddle the big one!
Why not? Cheetahs are not viscous and they’re more afraid of us than we should be of them. Cheetahs have evolved to chase down smaller animals in the flatlands and outrun predators, they have light bones to help with their speed that also make them fairly fragile.
Also because of cheetahs being pack animals they’ve been known to have a disposition very similar to dogs and are often paired with dogs in zoos and sanctuaries, and they are a strong candidate for domestication based on their temperament and pack mentality, however the much more dangerous Hyenas are further along in the domestication process as they have been semi-domesticated going back to the Egyptian empire.
Cheetahs are pretty awesome animals.
She is still a wild animal that has the capacity to kill any human that gets too close to her cubs. I imagine she would defend her cubs more fiercely than buffalo carrion.
There is no record of a cheetah ever killing a human, they are not even brave enough to do more than scavenge after us, sure maybe it’s not a good idea to approach a pack of cheetahs with the intention of bothering one of their kittens, but that’s literally any animal, including dogs.
Your fears are completely unfounded, cheetahs are literally the biggest cat that still mews and can’t roar.
Cougars would like a word on the not roaring thing.
But outside of that you’re not really wrong.
Got a cat?
They have expressions that humans can read. The stare, dilated pupils, ears partly back all seem to me to be a “FAFO” look, especially seeing as its momma with cubs. If I was super-familiar with this cat maybe I could read it differently, but I wouldn’t touch this kitty right now.
Domestic cats are more akin to tigers than cheetahs, or even lions, since domestic kitties aren’t pack animals.
So sure they can give you the “FAFO” face, but with their light bones, anxiety, innate fear of humanity, and disposition to flight rather than fight, most likely the cheetah will just look at you all pissed off until you go away, even with their kitten in hand. The only thing that might change that is if their pack is around, and even then most like the pack will say “fuck these kids, not worth pissing off a human” and nope the fuck out as a pack.
🤓
Moments after Cheetah swipe: 😵
Cheetahs can’t swipe, their legs are similar to dog legs, pls literally look closely at a picture of cheetahs legs and you’ll see the similarities and that they aren’t capable of swiping, or at least no more than dogs can.
Oh noes not swipes without retractable claws!!! /s
Again that’s the same level of swipe motion that any dog has, and cheetahs don’t have retractable claws, their paws are similar to dogs.
Yeah, this is right.
I def wouldn’t just go in there bcs that would be way too much stress on something so fragile as a cheetah (or actually any cat), but I don’t really see a cheetah killing a human without very strong/desperate need of food, and even that is a stretch.
…how strong is a cheetah?
I think they’re built for speed and agility, so probably not very strong as far as big cats go, but I bet they’re plenty strong (and sharp!) enough to royally f*ck up your day if you mess with them.
But she will, like all cat mothers - she will cuddle with them and protect them and nurse them, because it’s what all cats do. Eventually when they are starting to wean, she’ll get bored and even tired of them and the kits will know it’s time to become independent. Cats have a different perspective on child care than humans, who tend to have one baby a year at most and spend several years bonding with their child.
I’m surprised they have cheetahs, I would think the need a massive zone. Maybe like around the perimeter of the zoo lol
Zoos have no problems sticking elephants in reinforced cattle pens so I wouldn’t set the bar that high.
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