He stares at the volunteers eagerly awaiting his food, watching every move they make as they position themselves for the throw over the fence. But then for some reason, as the meat is thrown, he can't quite follow it with his eyes and sometimes doesn't realise that it's landed there right next to him.
This is becoming slightly worrying as Rusty is due to be re-released back into the wild at some point in the next few months but if his eyesight is a problem then it may affect his ability to hunt and fend off predators.
The Wildlife Coordinators have been discussing the best action to take and we have decided to bring in an eye specialist to the farm to look at Rusty. Hopefully he will be able to determine the extent of his condition and assess his visibility.
The biggest pest for large carnivores duing the hot summer season is horse flies, which plague the cats by burrowing deep into their fur and biting into their skin. It seems ironic that such small insects can cause our strong cheetahs such discomfort!
The only way to rid them of the flies and insects is to spray flea repellent onto the big cats. We use Frontline which not only kills the flies on the animals but prevents re-infestation. Now spraying flea repellant on wild cheetahs through a fence is no easy task!
Using a standard sized spray bottle, it's necessary to lure them close enough to the fence to spray through the fence, onto their bodies. We do this during feeding time as it's the easiest time to get the cheetahs to come close to the fence and then if they get a bit too close we can throw meat to keep them happy.
Now Rusty is cleared of his horse flies he's a much happier cheetah!
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