Our Ambassadors from Africa
Besides our three magnificent cheetahs, we have several other animals from Africa which you can meet during one of our tours. Our “Meet and Greet a Cheetah”, and “Cat Training 101” Animal Experiences include the full tour, but offer a focused experience with one of these animals. Many of these animals participate in our “Out of Africa” or “Walk on the Wild Side” programs available for schools, birthday parties, and special events.
Note that our cheetahs are available only for conservation presentations. Our serval is available for off-site programs for an additional fee. Our bush baby and foxes stay at Wild Wonders.
See a video about Victor, our cheetah, produced by Cheetah Kids below.
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- Everybody knows the Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest land mammal on earth but how can they run so fast? In Africa there is a lot of competition for food so the cheetah must be faster in order to catch dinner. One special adaptation for the cheetah are its paws, they have special pads on their feet and are the only cat with non-retractable claws that are used for traction (like spikes on football cleats!).
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- The Serval (Leptailurus serval) is a medium-sized cat but because of its leg length it is one of the tallest. It is able to leap up to 12ft horizontally from a stationary position, landing precisely on target with sufficient force to stun or kill its prey upon impact.
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- Bush babies are called “little night monkeys” by the locals. These small nocturnal primates are fast and have great hearing. Their diet is a mixture of insects and fruit.
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- Uromastyx are primarily herbivorous, but occasionally eat insects, especially when young. They spend most of their waking hours basking in the sun, hiding in underground chambers at daytime or when danger appears.
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- African Pygmy Hedgehogs can be found through various regions of Africa from Senegal to Somalia and Tanzania. While the quills that can be found allover their body works quite well for protection the African Pygmy Hedgehog has another unique form of protection. When they come into contact with strange odors they will “self—anoint and form foamy saliva to capture this scent and spread it all over their quills. This is believed to help deter predators.
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- Fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda) are desert dwelling foxes found throughout North Africa. The noticeably large ears serve multiple purposes: first as a way to hear their prey burrowing in the sand, and secondly as a way to lose body heat in order to keep cool in the hot climates they thrive in. While being a petite fox they are quite vocal using whines and barks as a way of communicating with their keepers and fellow fox friends.
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- The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) received its name for a hissing noise made by exhaling air through beathing holes (spiracles). They live on the forest floor and feed on fruit and plant materials. The female can have as many as 60 babies at a time; these babies are known as nymphs.
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- The rock hyrax is a distant relative of the elephant. This is especially surprising as they are only about 20 inches long and weigh around 8 pounds!