The Fastest Animal On Earth

Today Byron, an experienced cheetah ambassador, came to our school. He has been doing this job for over 8 years. His role is to show people the unique qualities of his species so that we will make sure that cheetahs never face extinction.

Byron was delighted to see the children and everybody had a chance to stroke his back. He was actually purring and you were able to hear it at the back of the room. The most amazing thing about cheetahs is that their stride allows them to cover 32m per second, giving them a top speed of 120km per hour. You can clearly see in the photo that the cheetah has non-retractable claws which give him a grip like athletic shoes do for athletes. Rita, his caretaker, explained to the children that he always has his togs on!

What an honour to meet such an amazing animal and his caretakers. The bond between animal and caretaker was so special to witness. The absolute trust between them!

The weather today has been extreme. Temperatures climbing to 40 degrees. We got home and got straight into the swimming pool to cool off! Not sure how we are going to survive the summer if it carries on like this!

This is part 2 of the cheetah experience. To see paert 1 go here.