Do they have full access? I saw a video (which unfortunately I can't find) with a cheetah up a tree and it looked a bit odd, like there was some kind of hot wire on the tree. It also wasn't clear how it would be able to get up to the platform it was on.
Well that certainly sounds like an odd combination. I mean, an adult giraffe probably wouldn't be threatened by any cheetah but a young eland or zebra certainly would.
I can understand that captive animals won't necessarily kill if they get enough food, but accidents happen.
Do you happen to have any pictures in which you can see the cats alongside the hoofstock?
Here’s a photo taken from a different angle. As you can see, the platform the cheetah is on is only about four meters high. Cheetahs may not be good climbers, but it shouldn’t be too difficult for them to leap from branch to branch to the platform.
I haven't managed to take any photos of the cheetahs alongside the hoofstock yet. I heard that you won’t be able to see the cheetah on the ground unless you get there right after the zoo opens, because after a short run in the morning it rushes up to that platform to stay away from the hoofstock and doesn’t come down until the day ends.
The zoo has a six-month-old zebra foal; it seems that the zoo does not intend to add the foal to the mixed exhibit for quite a while.
I heard that you won’t be able to see the cheetah on the ground unless you get there right after the zoo opens, because after a short run in the morning it rushes up to that platform to stay away from the hoofstock and doesn’t come down until the day ends.
(I say this a lot, but it really annoys me when some zoos mix animals simply for the sake of mixing them or because it will look cool to the visitors. How it affects the animals is apparently not a consideration).
When I enlarge the thumbnail, the only platform I see is near the top of a tree - much too high for a cheetah to climb up to. Where is this four meter platform?