Cheetah Update: Merlot

From your last update on Merlot, we’d like to tell you a bit more about him and what he has been doing over the past six-month period.

As you know, Merlot, along with his mother and sister, came to CCF when he was a year and a half old. He was separated from them shortly after arriving at CCF as he had reached sexual maturity. He was put together to live with another male cheetah of similar age, Klein. They have bonded very strongly and are the best of friends. Male cheetahs live in a coalition of males, usually siblings, however, young males, if alone, will bond together with an unrelated male. These male coalitions stay together their entire lives.

Merlot has marks resembling exclamation points above his eyes, almost making him look startled all the time. He is less dominant than his enclosure counterpart, Klein, but is still a big and strong male.