Too tired to post

so you just get a picture…

This cheetah was one of three strolling around the confines of the Philadelphia Zoo on Wednesday. Well, at least their confines. All three were pacing back and forth, beautiful examples of an increasingly rare species.

It was interesting to just watch them for a bit – they all reacted fairly strongly to the sound of a nearby child crying – I’m not sure what it meant to them, but their ears perked up and they turned instantly in the direction of the sound. At one point, one of them even gave us their characteristic chirping call (kind of cool to actually hear live).

It’s a shame that magnificent cats like this have to be in zoos – but that might be the only thing that saves them from extinction. There are less than 12,000 left in the world, and many of those are in isolated populations that have rampant in-breeding and the resulting plague of genetic defects. Without man’s intervention, we might lose this magnificent creature. Now, if we can just figure out how to give them 100 acres of preserve to enjoy…

Check out the large size, or if you dare, the original size in it’s whopping 2272 x 1840 pixel size. You can actually see the snow of their enclosure in the reflection of his eye.