Animal Diaries Archive

Trivia for Cheetah!

20 June 2008

Cheetahs are one of the endangered species we have here at Australia Zoo; we do as much as we can to help raise awareness of their plight out in the wild. We also help to raise funds for conservation projects. We run cheetah experiences on a daily basis allowing visitors to meet one of our gorgeous cheetahs, have your photo taken and hang out with them for half an hour. The best part of it is that the money you pay for this experience goes back into helping wild cheetahs in Africa. These experiences are the number one way in which we currently raise conservation funding, however our love for this enchanting animal drove us to find more ways in which to help.

The cheetah team recently rallied together with POUNCE, an Australia Zoo-staff initiated conservation group, to organise an event to raise money for cheetahs.

Last week we ran a trivia night which had 200 brainiacs from the Zoo fighting for the title of “smartest team in the zoo” and bragging rights for years to come. Sure, there were some fantastic prizes to be won and it was all for a great cause, but many were in it for the fame. Tricky questions like “how many circles are there on a twister mat?” and “how many spots does a cheetah have?” surely tested their knowledge, but thanks to some quick thinking and internet on their phones (cheaters!), most were in the know.

Whatever their motivation (or secret weapon), everyone had a great night and dug deep into their pockets to help raise nearly $3000 for cheetah conservation. In the end it was a rag-tag team made up of admissions, customer service and marketing staff who took home the fame, glory and prizes… leaving the rest of us to care for our battered pride. Thanks must go to everyone who came on the night and donated their hard-earned money, and those wonderful volunteers that helped out too. Together we have made a little difference for these gorgeous and endangered cats.

The cheetah team.

P.S. For those brainiacs out there, the answers are 26 and average of 2000 respectively.