Howletts Wild Animal Park People walking in the cheetah enclosure

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ZappyAd

Member
I went to Howletts last week with the kids and was a little taken aback when one of them asked 'Daddy, why are there people playing with the cheetah?'

Sure enough there was a small group of people (about 7) strolling around inside the cheetah enclosure (with the cheetah) and a couple more on the other side of the fence engaging with it through a single layer of wire. If I had to take a guess I would say that it was probably members of the Aspinall family and some friends / relatives.

It actually really shocked me - so much so that I thought I had better check on ZooChat to see if I was overreacting or misinterpreting things. It just looked like someone was keeping a cheetah as a pet, but in the grounds of a wild animal park. The enclosure had the usual informational boards up about the cheetah and its habitat so it was definitely 'meant' to be there. And we overheard a nearby keeper saying that it was going to be released into the wild at some point in the future. It just didn't seem the right thing to be doing from either the cheetah or the human's perspective.

Needless to say I had to tell the kids they couldn't have a go!
 
Interesting as it's in the UK but personally I have been fortunate to take a Cheetah for a walk in Dubai, and had a close up cuddle with one, and play with it and feed it. A friend of mine out there works for someone who has 4 of them as pets !

Their Cheetahs are incredibly placid and it's not uncommon out in the UAE to have them as a pet, so it wouldn't surprise me if some in collections were in fact tame and no threat to humans whatsoever, especially if hand reared.
 
John Aspinal used to go in with many of the animals. I don't know if Damian continues to do so but I've certainly seen him in with wolves.
 
Cheetahs are relatively tame/shy, keepers tend to be very hands on with them in captivity. I'm not sure about this exact situation, but I'm not sure what the keeper was talking about regarding releasing it into the wild. That wouldn't happen with an animal used to contact with humans! Released into a sanctuary, maybe, but not truly wild.

Zooreviewsuk said:
Their Cheetahs are incredibly placid and it's not uncommon out in the UAE to have them as a pet, so it wouldn't surprise me if some in collections were in fact tame and no threat to humans whatsoever, especially if hand reared.
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It is illegal, though, and for good reason.
 
TinoPup said:
Cheetahs are relatively tame/shy, keepers tend to be very hands on with them in captivity. I'm not sure about this exact situation, but I'm not sure what the keeper was talking about regarding releasing it into the wild. That wouldn't happen with an animal used to contact with humans! Released into a sanctuary, maybe, but not truly wild.
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It still doesn't sound like a good idea to me to do this kind of thing - and not the right message either.

Even if cheetahs are relatively "tame" and presumably the least dangerous of the large cats, there have been cases where cheetahs have attacked and even killed humans, so they are definitely capable to cause serious harm or even death.

At the Olmense Zoo in Belgium in 2007 a woman was mauled to death by a cheetah kept in a situation where cheetahs were kept in close contact with humans and were people regularly went in with the cheetahs. The woman did so unauthorized and unsupervised

Recently when a French family got out of their cars in the cheetah enclosure at Safaripark Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands the cheetahs displayed stalking behavior towards the family's children. In 2012 when another group of people did the same a 9-year old boy was bitten in the arm and has to be taken to the hospital.

These incidents were definitely the result of stupid and irresponsible behavior, but they still show that cheetahs do pose a risk of serious injury or even death to humans. And thus I don't think it's a good idea or a good message for zoos to be publicly showing or promoting close human contact with cheetahs.

If keepers are more hands on with cheetahs than with other cats, that's understandable to a degree, but if I'm not mistaken at most big, "good" or accredited zoos even the keepers wouldn't be walking into the enclosure with cheetahs, let alone allow other people to do so. I can certainly understand keepers getting hands-on or in close contact with potentially dangerous animals, but I think it's a bad idea and a poor message to let people who aren't zoo staff do so.
 
KevinB said:
If keepers are more hands on with cheetahs than with other cats, that's understandable to a degree, but if I'm not mistaken at most big, "good" or accredited zoos even the keepers wouldn't be walking into the enclosure with cheetahs, let alone allow other people to do so. I can certainly understand keepers getting hands-on or in close contact with potentially dangerous animals, but I think it's a bad idea and a poor message to let people who aren't zoo staff do so.
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Lots of "big, good [and] accredited" zoos have animal encounters where visitors can (for a fee) pat cheetahs. I imagine quite a few members on here would have patted a cheetah.
 
Chlidonias said:
Lots of "big, good [and] accredited" zoos have animal encounters where visitors can (for a fee) pat cheetahs. I imagine quite a few members on here would have patted a cheetah.
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Okay, well, I didn't know that.

I certainly have never seen nor could imagine it at the facilities I have visited with cheetahs (Planckendael, Olmen after the death, Beekse Bergen, Cologne, Wuppertal, Pairi Daiza).

Which facilities do you know do this and are there facilities in Europe that do this kind of thing?

That said, while I understand the reasoning behind these, I personally don't agree with these paid close encounters with animals nor think they are a good idea or giving the right message and therefore I would not participate in such activities.
 
KevinB said:
Which facilities do you know do this and are there facilities in Europe that do this kind of thing?
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In New Zealand, the three major zoos (Auckland, Wellington, and Orana Park) all have cheetah encounters, which at Auckland includes taking them for a walk around the zoo. Similar cheetah encounters are in a number of Australian zoos also. I wouldn't know about Europe.
 
Hamerton Zoo in the UK has an awesome-looking encounter (which is sadly way out of my budget) where you can go in with a cheetah. I have fed the cheetahs at Exmoor Zoo, though with a chainlink fence between us.

There's a video somewhere on You Tube of a guy, who I think runs or works in some kind of cheetah centre in South Africa, who is very hands on with the cheetahs, and tried an experiment where he went into the enclosure and turned his back on them. They weren't remotely interested (though they may well have been interested in something smaller).

I am not saying it is right or wrong for people to go in with them, but if I had the money I would do the Hamerton experience in a heartbeat.
 
KevinB said:
Which facilities do you know do this and are there facilities in Europe that do this kind of thing?

That said, while I understand the reasoning behind these, I personally don't agree with these paid close encounters with animals nor think they are a good idea or giving the right message and therefore I would not participate in such activities.
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There is a school of thought to say that animals in captivity benefit from having this kind of close contact / relationship with humans - assuming it is a positive experience obviously - as it reduces stress. I can see the logic in this - if an animal is happy to see you and wants to play etc it is going to be less stressed than one that is snarling at you from a corner. There is somewhere between the two that is probably the 'sweet spot' depending on the animal. I would also assume that taking part in one of these experiences is a great opportunity for the keepers to educate the participants so I don't think the 'message' being sent is as one dimensional as you are viewing it.
 
BeakerUK said:
Hamerton Zoo in the UK has an awesome-looking encounter (which is sadly way out of my budget) where you can go in with a cheetah. I have fed the cheetahs at Exmoor Zoo, though with a chainlink fence between us.
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Unlike earlier years, Hamerton currently works in protected contact with cheetahs and you can not go in with a cheetah during the contact session.
 
KevinVar said:
Unlike earlier years, Hamerton currently works in protected contact with cheetahs and you can not go in with a cheetah during the contact session.
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Ah well, I shall comfort myself with the knowledge that I am not missing out at least.
 
My friends in Dubai work for one of the Sheikh's, he has four pet Cheetahs and when I stayed with them for 4 weeks 2 years ago, the Cheetah's just sat out on the lawn and were really content.

The one I walked was called Sapphire and she was 3 years old and really sweet, she liked being cuddled and talking her for a walk, was easier than walking my dogs.

These four were all hand reared and given the Sheikh is Royalty I doubt they were obtained illegally. They were beautiful creatures and it was amazing to get up close to one.

They had 4 girls and each were totally placid and had free roam of the Palace and gardens.

I was totally fascinated by them and have done a couple of Cheetah experiences since in the US and was lucky enough during this session to have petted and Stroked a baby Cheetah whilst it was held by the keeper and had a photo taken standing one side of the Cheetah with the keeper the other side. This Cheetah was less 16 weeks old and it's mother had abandoned it, so the Zoo were bringing it up by hand. The VIP experience at that zoo was $800 but I got to spend the whole day with a keeper, preparing food and meeting any number of animals and for me it was worth every penny.
 
Zooreviewsuk said:
These four were all hand reared and given the Sheikh is Royalty I doubt they were obtained illegally. They were beautiful creatures and it was amazing to get up close to one.
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Yeah, because people with absolute power never abuse their positions. :rolleyes:

That's not to say they weren't obtained legally, just questioning the logic used.:)
 
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KevinVar said:
Unlike earlier years, Hamerton currently works in protected contact with cheetahs and you can not go in with a cheetah during the contact session.
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Well, the important word here is currently. Amongst many, Hamerton has had two very special male Cheetahs - firstly ‘Django’ born at Wassenaar, and later ‘Ares’ from Dvur Kralove. These were the two animals used for the direct contact experiences, which were always deliberately limited in number (and charged accordingly!), raising funds for the Cheetah Conservation Fund's work in Namibia. [‘Ares’ can be seen with Sir David Attenborough on the header of Hamerton’s web-site] Since the death of these two cats, Hamerton has not been able to offer such contact, as other animals have not proved completely suitable for various reasons. Cheetahs are highly individualistic, with a huge variation in temperament, patience and attention-span between individuals. It is hoped/planned that direct contacts will be resumed as soon as a suitable cat is available, but in the meantime contacts as described at Exmoor are offered as an alternative. Hamerton’s Australian project has delayed plans for a chauffeured drive-through 'Cheetah Experience' in a safari Land Rover, but this is something still expected to become available in the future.
(Information from A.S. at Hamerton)
 
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