Animal Diaries Archive

The Daily Challenges of a Cheetah Handler

20 July 2007

If you keep updated about our Big Cats, you'll know that we walk the cheetah around the park on leash. If you're lucky enough to have seen us on a walk, or even participated in a 'Cheeky Cheetah Walk', we would forgive you for thinking that the cats mosey along at their own leisure, while the handlers follow along happily allowing the cat to do as it pleases. To the untrained eye, this is how it can appear. However, just like most things that look easy, there is months of training, conditioning and learning for the cat AND the handler to be able to achieve this.
Firstly we must appreciate the nature of the cat and learn to understand how they operate and stop rationalising their behaviour as if they were human. Sounds simple, but this is the hardest challenge any human can face! It's what makes the difference between a good handler and an awesome handler. Cats are so different to us that we are constantly learning and adapting alongside them!
On leash, we use skills developed over time to read cat behaviour in order to anticipate everything two steps ahead of the cheetah. This is no mean feat considering that the cheetah is attempting to do the same thing to the handler on leash! A good handler will have the ability to read a cat's behaviour so well that they silently communicate with the cat via body language, leash control and their relationship. Watching them, it can look as if the cat does what it wants. In human terms, we strive to allow the cat freedom to make decisions, but to also compromise with the handler. This is how we keep control of the cats as well as keeping the cats relaxed and the walks rewarding.
Walking the cats in the zoo is the biggest challenge we face, and we do it twice a day!
The zoo has a lot of animals that go out on enrichment walks, such as dingoes, wombats and elephants. We communicate with other animal handlers via radio so that we never run into other animals on our walks. Even though the cheetah is on leash, getting too close to another roving animal could excite the cats too much.
The other challenge is 'children'! We are very watchful of children that are running or active as they get the cheetah very excited. No amount of conditioning can stop a cheetah's natural predatory instincts! Hence, they are never 'tame' or 'domesticated'. We never walk the cats through groups of people, only in areas where a fence divides us from the guests. In our guest experiences, you must be older than 15 to participate, but you are on our side of the fence and able to approach, pat and get photos with the gorgeous cats.
Our job takes longer to master than most animal trades, but it is always challenging and highly rewarding.