This is a South African cheetah at the San Diego Zoo. These cheetahs often have dogs as companions, as this one did. However, the dog was sacked out at the far end of the enclosure, so there was no chance to get it in the picture. But the cheetah is the star of the show, so I guess it doesn't really matter.
People hunting with cheetahs, 1939:
https://youtu.be/NevenDIp95A
At a museum several years back I saw paintings depicting the hunt in India. I had no idea that cheetahs had been trained to do this. Really amazing. Even by 1939 it was unusual. But apparently it was popular with Indian royalty in the more distant past.
According to an article I read some years ago, I believe it was by Stephen Jay Gould, one major problem with the common use of trained cheetahs for hunting is that cheetahs generally refuse to breed in captivity, so they had to be captured from the wild. This lead to a major depletion of the species and almost lead to its extension.
The ancient Egyptians also hunted with cheetas, over 3,000 years ago.
OT: ICYMI
covidtests.gov website active a day early - go O/L now. Got through at 4:10 PM
Cheetahs are magnificent creatures, so graceful in motion - & this one has such a commanding gaze. Wish that their numbers were higher.
Great portrait! What a regal beast.
Have to ask--what do dog (and cheetah) get out of that relationship? Where do the dogs come from? How did the zoo figure out that this might make sense?
Never mind--there's a whole web post about it: https://grumbledog.com/blog/an-unlikely-duo-how-dogs-are-helping-cheetahs-in-zoos/
Very cool. Thanks for posting the link.
Heh. I rest my case.
These cheetahs often have dogs as companions...
You learn something new every day.