A Cheetah and an Emotional Support Dog

Zoos across the US have adopted the practice of pairing cheetahs, which are nervous and skittish by nature, with an emotional support dog companion to keep the cheetahs calm. 

 

Per the Isaac Schultz piece “An Emotional Support Dog Is the Only Thing That Chills Out a Cheetah” (Atlas Obscura, August 19, 2019): 

 

In 1976, research scientist and conservation biologist Laurie Marker was living in Winston, a town of about 3,000 people. As the curator of a cheetah-breeding program at Wildlife Safari, she found herself hand-rearing a lonely cheetah cub named Khayam.

 

Cheetahs are companionable litter-mates, but Marker had no other cats to put with Khayam. So, she decided to try pairing the fastest land mammal on the planet with the animal typically thought of as a human's best friend. 

 

And it worked: Khayam and a Lab-mix named Shesho became fast friends. 

 

Raising Khayam with a dog "provided friendship, security, and [helped keep the cheetah] calm", Marker says in an email. "Companion dogs act as a surrogate for cheetah siblings… It is the friendship between the two individuals that creates a strong bond, and this is what makes for a successful pairing". 

 

In other words, it chills the cheetah out. Now, when a cub that’s abandoned or orphaned ends up in human care, many zoos pair the cat with a dog as a substitute sibling. 

 

Also: 

 

In the wild, male cheetahs often form “coalitions” – tight-knit groups – to get this companionship. But female cheetahs are solitary and rear cubs on their own. Even in captivity they’ve been known to occasionally forsake single cubs. 

 

And: 

 

“The cheetah would rather flee than fight”, says Suzi Rapp, vice president of animal programs at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, which have 16 cheetahs and four companion dogs. “Even though the cheetah has this [incredible] speed, there are predators that are bigger and badder than they are”. 

 

All of which makes the animals nervous, even in captivity. 

 

The canine-feline relationship has become a benchmark in captive-cheetah care. 

 

As per my post “Three Cheetah Cubs Born in India Die in Heatwave” published May 28, 2023, maybe the last surviving cub can use a surrogate best friend. 

 

It is noteworthy to mention too that relaxing the cats is also key to helping repopulate the species. After all, a relaxed cheetah is an eager cheetah.