Running cubs…


Our day started a litte earlier than usual – after all, we all were invited for a cheetah run with the cubs. This meant that we had to get up earlier and start working earlier as well, but it was completely worth it.

I helped Jourdan and James collect scat samples of the girls in the Elands pen, and once we were done waited for a little longer before we were finally told to go down to the house. Entering the small one’s pen was a first for me, but the run took place where last year I got to pet Little C. Upon our arrival the three about 14 month-old cubs Soraya (the female), Phoenix and Quasar were already waiting for us to start. And not only waiting, there was a constant purr coming from the trio. 😀

They didn’t only seem eager to run, they also were – the three of them darted after the lure quite persistently and seemed a lot more energetic than the four boys in the adjacent pen. The run took quite some time, and they all were rather playful and nice. After the run we were allowed to follow them around a bit as they were exploring the trees in the pen and playing as well as resting.

Soraya

After that, I began my duty – I had finally been assigned to meat cutting which also involves raking the pens. However, I got to do the Soraya, Quasar and Phoenix’ pen, which turned out to be quite a bit of work, keeping me busy for a good two hours and a half. When I finally finished cleaning it (they had some nasty hay and other stuff in there), I started cutting the cub’s meat, but as I was so slow Bruce had to help me do it or I wouldn’t have made it to dinner in time at all. I hope that didn’t give him a bad impression of me. :/

In the evening Markus, Rhianna and I first visited Nick which resulted in a lot of talking, sharing of experiences and laughs, then watched several episodes of Family Guy followed by Event Horizon (which she didn’t know!), concluding the day. What a nice way of doing it! 🙂