Cheetah Update: Shadow

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

Shadow is the smallest of the 10 female cheetahs living in CCF's 200 acre enclosure. She is very timid and submissive around the other cheetahs, although she will not tolerate being pushed around by the other cheetahs living in the enclosure. She will protect herself if need be by growling and hissing to her “friends”.

In November 2005, we saw that one of her legs and foot had a few cuts on them. We are not sure how this occurred; however, we had to anesthetize her in order to stitch up the wounds. We then had to keep her in a holding pen away from the other cheetahs to administer antibiotics and monitor the healing of the wounds for three weeks before releasing her back into the area with the other female cheetahs. We are happy to say that her leg healed so nicely that the scars aren't even visible anymore.

Shadow tipped the scales at 29 kilograms and was looking very healthy and lean. During her physical, she also had all the burrs and stickers combed out. One of our CCF volunteers and a dentist, Dr. Larry Friedman, who came to assist with the annual physicals, confirmed that even her teeth were looking great, but still equilibrated the distal cusp of her lower posterior molars.