WHEN AN ENDANGERED CHEETAH BECOMES A PHOTO-PROP

Is This What Conservation Is Supposed to Look Like?

Yesterday, Oregon Linen Inc. proudly shared photographs from Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon.

In one, a cheetah appears inside the cab of a delivery truck.

In another, the cheetah sits on a leash beside that truck, surrounded by people.

The caption asks:

“Oregon Linen’s new mascot?!”

Perhaps we should be asking a different question.

What are we teaching the public when an endangered wild predator becomes sufficiently accustomed to people, leashes, vehicles and unfamiliar environments that scenes like these are promoted as entertainment?

Wildlife Safari is accredited by both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Zoological Association of America (ZAA).

It also operates one of the world’s most prolific captive cheetah breeding programs.

Wildlife Safari reports that 259 cheetahs have been born there since 1972.

But breeding endangered animals in captivity is only part of this story.

For years, I have documented Wildlife Safari’s use of human-habituated cheetahs as so-called “ambassador animals” — animals conditioned to tolerate close human contact and transported into environments far removed from anything resembling the natural lives of their wild counterparts.

And Wildlife Safari is hardly alone.

Across the zoological industry, ambassador animals are taken to schools, sporting events, fundraisers and other public venues. They are walked on leashes, positioned for photographs and placed into situations specifically designed to bring wild animals closer to people.

We are repeatedly told that these encounters promote education and conservation.

But what exactly is the lesson?

That an endangered predator belongs at the end of a leash?

That proximity equals appreciation?

That a photograph beside a cheetah creates meaningful understanding of what threatens cheetahs in the wild?

Or that wild animals become more valuable to us when they can be touched, photographed, transported and incorporated into our human experiences?

The AZA states:

“Safety and security are of the utmost importance to protect our guests and staff, and to ensure the welfare of our animals.”

That principle deserves serious consideration whenever institutions deliberately blur the boundary between people and potentially dangerous wild animals.

But there is another question that goes beyond physical safety.

What does repeatedly conditioning a wild animal to accommodate our world teach us about respecting theirs?

Cheetahs are extraordinary precisely because they are wild animals.

They do not need to become mascots.

They do not need to attend our events.

They do not need to pose beside our vehicles.

And they should not have to surrender the very behaviors and boundaries that define them as wild animals simply so that we can manufacture another memorable “experience.”

There is an important distinction between teaching people about wildlife and teaching wildlife to accommodate people.

Conservation should help us understand that distinction.

Because perhaps the greatest lesson an endangered animal can teach us isn't how close we can get to it.

It is why we should respect enough distance to allow it to remain wild.

KeepingWildlifeWild.org
Evidence – Education – Accountability