WHEN AN ENDANGERED CHEETAH BECOMES A PHOTO-OP
Is This What Conservation Is Supposed to Look Like?
Oregon Linen Inc. recently shared photographs from Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon.
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In one, a cheetah appears inside the cab of a delivery truck. In another, the cheetah sits on a leash beside the truck, surrounded by people. The accompanying caption asks:
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“Oregon Linen’s new mascot?!”
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The images raise a larger question about the messages we send when endangered wild animals are presented in highly human-centered settings:
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What are we teaching the public when a cheetah becomes sufficiently accustomed to people, leashes, vehicles and unfamiliar environments that scenes like these are promoted as an experience?
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Wildlife Safari is accredited by both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Zoological Association of America (ZAA). The facility also operates a long-established captive cheetah breeding program and reports that more than 250 cheetahs have been born there since 1972.
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But breeding endangered animals in captivity is only part of the conversation.
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Wildlife Safari has also used human-habituated cheetahs as so-called “ambassador animals”—animals accustomed to close human contact and sometimes transported into environments far removed from the natural lives of their wild counterparts.
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And Wildlife Safari is hardly alone.
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Across the zoological industry, ambassador animals may be taken to schools, sporting events, fundraisers and other public venues. Some are walked on leashes, positioned for photographs or presented in settings specifically designed to bring wild animals closer to people.
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These encounters are commonly described as opportunities for education, engagement and conservation.
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But what exactly is the lesson?
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That an endangered predator belongs at the end of a leash? That proximity creates appreciation? That a photograph beside a cheetah produces meaningful understanding of the threats facing cheetahs in the wild?
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Or could such presentations unintentionally communicate that wild animals become more valuable when they can be transported, photographed and incorporated into human experiences?
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The AZA states that safety and security are important for protecting guests, staff and animal welfare. That principle deserves consideration whenever institutions intentionally bring people and potentially dangerous wild animals into closer proximity.
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But there is another question that goes beyond physical safety:
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What does repeatedly conditioning a wild animal to accommodate our world teach us about respecting theirs?
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Cheetahs are extraordinary precisely because they are wild animals. They do not need to become mascots, attend our events or pose beside our vehicles for people to appreciate their value.
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There is an important distinction between teaching people about wildlife and teaching wildlife to accommodate people.
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Conservation should help us understand that distinction.
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Because perhaps the greatest lesson an endangered animal can teach us isn't how close we can get to it.
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It is why we should respect enough distance to allow wildlife to remain wild.
RELATED READING:
What Are We Really Teaching?
Explore research examining whether close encounters with zoo animals may influence public perceptions of wildlife—and what these experiences communicate about conservation, animal welfare and our relationship with wild animals.
Keeping Wildlife Wild
Evidence • Education • Accountability
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