Archive for the 'Acinonyx' category

While randomly browsing old links from my bookmarks library, I found some that led me to a place I recommend to all cheetah lovers. The Cincinnati Zoo has a TwitPic account (CheetahDays) to presenter a daily photo of the zoo’s big cats. A large amount of cheetahs as you would expect, but you will also find a serval in a kitchen, an ocelot in a bath tub, some lions, …

No free wild animals, but some nice pictures.

Cheetahs prefer the front seat

There is no limit to true love. Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen truly loves cats: She has got eleven (11!) of them in her South African house.

Nothing really remarquable, except the cats are:

• Four cheetahs
• Five white lions
• Two tigers

…and I don’t count the dogs.

This is love, big lvoe!

Riana tries to help in protecting those endangered species, since 2006 when she adopted her first cheetah, Fiela.

Last but not least, remember that wild animals are still wild animals, even when they are perfectly integrated in a family. In this case, they also have a lot of free space, which must contribute a lot to the overall stability of this adventure.

Source: Daily Mail.

Andew Chase creates articulated metal sculptures that he photographs in a later stage. Here is a cheetah which is part of his Trionic Morphatractable Engineer photo book.

Here is the proof.

“Sponsor a cheetah” is a preservation program targetting those cheetahs that can no longer be released back in the wild because they lived too long in captivity. From the United Kingdom, the Cheetah Conservation Fund, allows to give £100 or more to help the following individual cheetahs:

1. Blondi, Leia, Josie, Dusty & Sandy
2. Klein, Merlot, Cruise, Nina, Solo & Kanini
3. Chanel, Shadow, Toblerone, Hershey & Nestle
4. Rosy, Samantha, Tempesta & Misty
5. Cleo, Ohana Luna, Soraya, Quasar & Armani
6. Kayla, Kiana, Harry, Ron & Hermione

Did you think that the cheetah is actually a thin cat? Slenderness does not equate lack of muscle. Check this video and admire the work of the muscles while this cheetahs run full speed.

At the end of the video, you have also seen a most common event: A cheetah loosing its prey to hyenas quickly arrived at the kill scene to steal the prey.

Cheetahs are impressive hunters thanks to their capacity for high speed chases that leave nearly no chance to a surprised victim. But, it is also a very fragile animal which is usually not able to defend its prey. Here is a very common situation: The gazelle he just caught is immediately stolen by the much more powerful hyena that took the opportunity to grab a fresh kill with minimal risk.

Life is unforgiving in Africa savanna.

Sometimes, for endangered species, it becomes necessary to forget re-introduction in the wild, but mere life preservation becomes critical. This is even more important for large carnivores like the cheetah because they need a lot of space and a large quantity of preys asociated to well-developped habits and sophisticated hunting techniques.

Since the cheetahs are also endangered, some of these big cats need to be supported even when they no longer can be freed to the wild world. Here comes the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) that provides protection for injured, old or orphaned cheetahs. About 30 of them.

And you can help them financially, if you are ready to sponsor a cheetah.

Big cats like lions, pumas, jaguars, cougars, cheetahs or leopards disappeared from continents where they could be found in prehistoric times. Here is a series of articles about prehistoric felines.

• Europe, where the sabre-tooths, lions and leopards are
• Pumas of South Africa, cheetahs of France, jaguars of England

Source: Tretrapod Zoology

Jason Morgan paints tigers. He really does.

Siberian tiger (by Jason Morgan)

If you like his work, it’s a time as good as any to go and visit his web site. What is surprising is his willingness to be commissioned to do an original painting from a model you’d select.

But I also suggest you’d go to his blog in order to keep in touch with his work. You will be shown his work during its creation. It’s a great thing to see.

And, not surprisingly, you will notice that Jason Morgan also does cheetahs, lions, leopards and other big cats.