To you members who may have some knowledge on this one, I remember reading somewhere that the leopard is the only big cat that can not be kept in captivity, since it will always attack the first chance it gets, even if it has been raised by man as a cub. I wonder how accurate this is, since you never do see them in animal acts very often.....maybe there is some truth to it.
Anyone??

Any animal can be kept as a pet- just some make nice pets and others always end in tears. Spotted Hyaena and leopard are always "end in tears" models. Brown Hyaena, cheetah, cervel are "can" be great pets. I have known several people who have kept pet lions, including my brother and there is always a trouble, simply because they are so strong and a little exuberant play ends up with badly hurt people.

Several parks officers "aquired" leopard cubs as pets. They were great fun, provided you didn't mind loosing a bit of blood and skin when their play gotr rough. The problems came when they reached maturity and wanted to breed and fight. Even the females like to fight and want their own space. The house becomes theirs and you may not enter when they have PMS, and you end up shooting you pet so that you can get inside without getting mauled. Some of them were fine for years but in the end they decided they just didn't want a human in their house...

Want a big cat as a pet? Get a cheetah. I love them and have had nothing but joy from the ones that have crossed my path.

Ganyana,

I would think that keeping any other pets alongside a leapord would also be a big No no?

One of our PH's this year had lost his Blue Tick Tracking dog to a leapord a few months ago.

Rgds,
FB

Leopards and lions have been kept as pets. But, one cannot trust them or get too close.

Cheetahs, on the other hand, make perfect pets.

Thanks for the great pictures Saeed. I have been fascinated with cheetahs since I was a kid. I always wondered how they would behave as pets.

Saeed, that is amazing!! Do they act like giant house cats, or more like dogs?
Leopards seem by their nature to be just plain nasty and forever a wild animal. I am facinated by them.

We kept the little babies in a partitioned off area in our kitchen. We also have a hyacinth macaw named Goofy, who was living in the kitchen. He used to fly over the partition, and keep chasing the baby cheetahs around.

They are absolutely adorable. Once they grew up, we moved them out to the backyard. Thye love to play soccer with me. And the ball does not last very long. We fight sometimes, but all in a fun sort of way, as they have never attempted to bite me hard. Sometimes I get hoocked with their dew claw, and that can be very painfull - as one time it got hooked under my toe nail, going in to the bone! All the reaction I got for my squeels of pain was utter amazement from them.

Goofy likes to help in the workshop, as you can see.

Wonderful photos! For those seeking a somewhat more practical pet, consideration might be given to the Caracal or Serval. There are breeders in the US specializing in these species (cost is about $1500-$2000 I believe).

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Carracal get scratchy when older. Serval are almost small cheetah.

I had always heard that the cheetah had a very limited gene pool. Now I know why.

"Scientists believe about 10,000-12,000 years ago at least 99 percent of the world population died in a very short period of time and that the population may have gotten as low as one pregnant female. A male Cheetah's sperm count is very low and a large percentage is abnormal. It is interesting to note if Cheetah were livestock, they would be classified as infertile."

Regards,

Terry

Saeed,

Are there any good stories of Walter and Goofy or the cheetahs?

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Carracal get scratchy when older. Serval are almost small cheetah.

Interesting. I doubt I would ever purchase either given that I live in a relatively small flat but, with all the feral cats in Cairo, I think a Serval would be hysterical here. What fun to see all the neighborhood felines freak out at the appearance of my new pet!

Best,

JohnTheGreek

quote:

Originally posted by CWW:
Saeed,

Are there any good stories of Walter and Goofy or the cheetahs?

Walter does not trust any of them. He thinks I am stark raving mad, as one day two cheetas were having a pretty good fight, so I jumped in and and seperated them.

Goofy likes to break locks. He has broken 8 Master locks!

He sits on my shoulder, and feels around my ears with his tung and pulls any hairs he finds. It is incredible how gentle he is.

Walter says one day he will come here and see me missing an ear.

Cheetahs have been domesticated in India for thousands of years. Royalty used them to hunt antelopes with.

I saw a movie filmed by Frank and John Craighead of a cheetah hunt. The cheetah rode on an ox cart with a hood over its head until quarry was sighted and it was released.

wow! you have two pet cheetahs saeed?

stories please

Wolfgar,

The cheetah was extinct in India before I was born, but as a boy I remember the owner of Devar Studios an old filmmaker in Chennai not too far from my house. The man had several large cats which he used in his films including tigers, lions and leopards. He had one particular leopard that he would occasionally take out on a leash to impress people until the local police made him stop. He did this on several occasions and may have got away with his silly stunts. After he died, his family went bankrupt and all the animals were taken away by the Forest Department and distributed to zoos.

Terry

There is so little genetic variation in cheetah that you can safely do a skin or kidney transplant from one to another without any fear of rejection. The entire cheetah population of the world have as much genetic variation as non identical human twins.

In theory then, they should all quallify as residents for the Southern states of the USA as each male is efectively married to his sister/cousin/aunt

With the way "conservation" is going in Africa I belive that the Cheetah's only real hope is domestication. Zimbabwe has lost well over 50% and perhaps as much as 75% of our cheetah popu8lation in the last 5 years, and Namibia will do the same if farms are taken over- even legally.

So - support conservation. Get a cheetah. Not only are they fantastic pets but they also keep the neigborhoods yappy dogs under control.

Ganyana,
I agree. I was in Namibia this summer, and sad to say the farmers shoot them on sight as pests for killing "their game" What a shame. They just discard them afterwards.

mehulkamdar

Perhaps the cheetahs in the Craighead film were imported from Africa.
The film was legit. It was made in the middle 1930's.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by mehulkamdar:
Wolfgar,

The cheetah was extinct in India before I was born, but as a boy I remember the owner of Devar Studios an old filmmaker in Chennai not too far from my house. The man had several large cats which he used in his films including tigers, lions and leopards. He had one particular leopard that he would occasionally take out on a leash to impress people until the local police made him stop. He did this on several occasions and may have got away with his silly stunts. After he died, his family went bankrupt and all the animals were taken away by the Forest Department and distributed to zoos.

gs

OK Ganyana, I'll do my part.

I was considering a Gordon Setter, though. How are Cheetahs on birds, and are they good retrievers?

It would be worth it perhaps just to be able to show up with one on my next pronghorn hunt (without rifle of course).

Cheetahs, what a wonderful pet to have.


Saeed,

can you tell us, what amount of meat (kgs) do they consume on average in a week? Are they fussy or have any preferences? Live or dead meat?

I would guess that they don't actually consume a lot, especially if compared to the large requirements of say a lion. I have plenty of meat, live and dead, but somehow I think they might be hard to get here and even harder to be allowed to keep!

They like lamb and chicken. And what helps is we have a meat supply compnay, so we have plenty to give them.

Generally, they have either one whole chiken, or a shoulder of lamb each. Every now and then we give them double rations for about a week or two.

They get food 6 days a week, on Fridays they get nothing.

Thanks Saeed for the reply.

I am surprised by the amount Cheetahs eat as I thought it would be less, though they are vigourous animals with high metabolism.

I wonder how much they would enjoy kangaroo )especially if they could run it down themselves ) .

Saeed,

Perhaps I'm dense, but why don't you feed your Cheetahs on Friday? Are they Catholic?

quote:

Originally posted by China Fleet Sailor:
Saeed,

Perhaps I'm dense, but why don't you feed your Cheetahs on Friday? Are they Catholic?

I'm wondering the same thing myself??

We were told it is a good idea to let them go without food one day a week, so we decided it was going to be Friday.

Saeed,

Is Goofy a nervous wreck by feeding time on Saturday?

"I tot I taw a puttytat..."

Wild animals do not eat everyday. I have heard the same thing, for example about dogs as well. But my dog would not forgive me if he did not get fed everyday.

Anyone know the regs in Kalifornia for cheetah?

My cat would love a friend...

GS

Saeed,

I know Cheetahs' claws do not retract like other cats'. Do they still stay as sharp as a regular cats' claws, or are they more dull like a dog's?