King cheetahs are my favorite animal and seeing this one was the highlight of my zoo travels. (At least it was until I got to France to see Parc Des Felins a couple years ago). They have multiple cheetahs that they rotate between the main exhibit yard and two large off exhibit yards. I had contacted the zoo ahead of time (and keep in mind this was before I was a docent so to them I was just a regular visitor). They gave me some of the best customer service I have ever experienced. The curator of carnivores personally telephoned me and said since he would be out of town he would set me (and my cousin who was with me) up with their head cheetah keeper. She arranged to have the king out on exhibit and met us there and called the cheetah over for some photos. Then gave us a tour of the off exhibit yards. All this for no extra charge and do not forget this is a free admission zoo. Just incredible. Three years ago when I came into a little inheritance money I sent them a check in gratitude for the great experience.
No, long gone I am afraid. There are two elderly king cheetahs in the United States now (and for the last decade). Both are used in educational shows but neither is on full time exhibit (which is a colossal injustice IMO). One is at some private cat handlers in north California (used to be called Leopards Etc but is called something else now) and one is in the education department of Zoo Miami.
I just searched the place in northern California and it says their king cheetah died on March 4th of this year. I guess that means Zoo Miami is the place to go.
I just searched the place in northern California and it says their king cheetah died on March 4th of this year. I guess that means Zoo Miami is the place to go.
Thanks for the update. Zoo Miami has had theirs for quite a while too, so I am not sure how much longer he will be around. I really wish some zoo in the states would put one in a nice exhibit.
AAAAHHH - I found it! (The Connecticut king cheetah that is). This place looks awesome - I cannot believe I have not heard of it and it has no thread on ZooChat! (It took some deep digging on the internet for me to get this). Although their website just lists and shows regular cheetah, their Facebook page does reveal they have a king cheetah named Mona Lisa.
