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Animals:
Cheetah

We would like to introduce you to Kerrily, the newest member of our cheetah team.

At the moment Kerrily is being introduced to the cats, and we are training her up in all that is involved in working with cheetahs at Australia Zoo.

Being introduced to adult cats is a slow process, and progress is at each individual cat's pace. is important to know the history of each cat so you are better able to understand their behaviours and learn to predict how they might respond. Each cat is very different and there are many important little quirks to pick up along the way.

When Kerrily first started in the cheetah team, we had her working around the cats on the outside of the enclosure, this way they become comfortable with her just being around. The next step was to take Kerrily into the cheetah's enclosure with a senior keeper . The more comfortable a cat is with a person, the less they pay attention or look at them, so when starting it is best not do anything that will draw the cats attention. For example you wouldn't walk around by yourself or carry any ‘scary' items.

As the cats become more relaxed around Kerrily, she is able to do more around them. Kerrily is now able to hand-feed all our cheetahs and can even do some basic meat training with them (such as ‘sit' and ‘down'). From here, her relationship with the cats will get stronger and she will eventually learn leash techniques involved with walking them.

You too can have an amazing experience with our gorgeous cheetahs. Go behind the scenes, learn all about how amazing the fastest land animal on earth really is and have your photograph taken so you can remember this once in a lifetime opportunity!