Highs and lows of the first 24 hours
I arrived at the CCF after a little over 43 hours of travel (3 planes, 2 car rides). My first official day I was working with the cheetah team on basic husbandry for the resident cheetahs. Essentially, if a cheetah comes to the center under ~1.5 years old they stay as residents because they haven't learned the proper hunting and survival skills from their moms. There were 28 resident cheetahs when I first arrived and now 29 because we had a young male come in on my first official work day. I was able to assist with his workup which was incredible. Doing a physical exam on a cheetah is essentially the same as a domestic cat but there are certain congenital (meaning from birth) defects to specifically look for like lower incisor (front teeth) crowding and a kinked tail. Unfortunately, our young male had both and was severely dehydrated. After some intravenous fluids and various diagnostics, he went to his (likely) new home here at CCF. There are 3 cheetah caretakers who actually interact with the cheetahs so they will monitor him to confirm he is not eligible for release.
I learned a lot in the first 5-6 hours and I'll describe more in detail what caretaking for captive cheetahs looks like at a later date. But, after all the excitement of a new cheetah and about 3 hours of prepping meat for feedings the next day I started feeling pretty sick. I likely have a mix of a respiratory infection and severe dehydration and had to take a day off to rest but am on the mend now. The climate is pretty tough. Mornings and nights are cold around 40 degrees but the heat of the day is 80 degrees with direct sun. It's also at about 5 times the elevation I'm used to so I think my body was just overwhelmed with all the changes and immunosuppressed from the long travel with little sleep. I'm hopeful that I'll adapt soon so I can set up more of a routine and start my research! Anyways, don't worry too much I packed a whole pharmacy and the CCF is ready to take me to the doctor if needed. I think tomorrow I will be able to go back to normal activities which includes working with the scat detection dogs and spending some time making ice cream in the creamery!
❤️ Leah
