Cheetah Rahabilitation

I don't usually like zoos - animals shouldn't be in cages.

But!
When it is for rehabilitation and conservation? I will happily pay some money to get up close and personal with animals who would otherwise be too reclusive and/or dangerous.
After seeing big cats in the wild last week ( https://findpenguins.com/1ooyf9lg96j6p/footprin… ) , I am even more appreciative of getting a closer look.

So we visited the Daniell Cheetah Farm near Kirkwood and it was wonderful! - https://daniellcheetahproject.com/

Our visit started with enjoying the quirky gift shop and a cold beer. We arrived just before three, as we were under the impression that tours are hourly. It was disappointing to learn that tours are hourly *except at three*, when everyone rests. The quirky shop and beer isn't exciting enough to fill an hour but we figured... "May as well wait." The Jackal IPA that I had was excellent, incidentally.

Waiting worked out GREAT as we ended up doing a special 3:30 private tour with Kayla (not sure of spelling) who was fantastic: friendly, funny, and knowledgeable. The one-hour tour lasted more like 90 minutes and felt like 30 minutes. I love it when I am instantly rewarded for patience, which happena often, it seems, but not always. Sometimes patience turns out to be a horrible waste of time, but not today!

We got to hear about the lives, loves, and losses of meerkats, cheetahs, lions, leopards, african wildcats (very affectionate), Caracal -african lynx (3-4M vertical leap!), Serval, and hyeena. There was a wild tortoise cruising around too.

I still think adult hyeena are dang ugly but now I see that they also have personality. And a jaw that can apply 1,100 psi... So I won't call 'em ugly to their face anymore.

Seeing a healthy adult (220kg) lion from 1m distance with only a thin wire fence is .... Impressive. They truly are regal and magnificent. I also learned (not firsthand, fortunately) that male lions will piss on anything and everything, especially tourists.

We were extra fortunate because the cats were waking from their afternoon naps and we got to see them moving about and stretching. Such incredible strength and grace!

Then we headed to visit Bruce's cousin, Jenny and I got some more good animal lovin' along with a fantastic home cooked meal and some hilarity.Baca lagi