Unlikely Friendships : 47 Remarkable Stories From the Animal Kingdom (5 page)

In the African Country of Namibia, where farmers and ranchers eke out a living on parched sandy soils, the cheetah is no friend to man. Livestock is a big and tasty temptation to the wild cats, especially during times of drought, when natural prey on the savanna is scarce. And when cheetahs come after livestock, people often shoot them, driven to protect their valuable resource.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund came up with an inspired alternative: offer dogs to farmers to be raised as guardians of the flocks. Anatolian shepherds, first bred in central Turkey thousands of years ago, were chosen for the job. The dogs are big and loyal, and know how to scare off an already skittish cat like a cheetah. (Wild cheetahs face formidable foes in nature; their ability
and readiness to sprint is their best defense.) Keeping the cheetahs from preying on sheep and goats protects them from farmers' bullets and helps take the stain off their reputation—both good strategies for keeping the species around in the future. The program has been wildly successful.

Now, here's a neat little twist: At zoos in the United States, those same shepherd dogs are being brought in not to chase cheetahs away, but to be their best friends.

“We've found so many benefits to pairing young cheetahs with domestic dogs,” says Kim Caldwell, animal training manager at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. Foremost, as they grow up together, the dog is a security blanket for this animal that's hardwired to be cautious, she says. Body language is key, and the dog—calm, loving, and adaptable—helps the cheetahs to relax and accept unfamiliar situations. That makes life less stressful for both the animals and the trainers. “Cheetahs respond differently to us than to another four-legged furry animal with a wagging tail,” Kim says. “A dog will lick the cheetah's ears, let it pounce, and chew on him. Better to give the cats a 130-pound dog as a toy than one of us. That way they can really wrestle and play together, which is an important part of learning and socialization.”

The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park have also used various mixed-breed pups in their cheetah program, but the shepherds are the best fit. “Some mutts can be just unstoppable,” Kim says. The shepherds are very mellow as puppies. Though always ready to roughhouse, they'll also lie down like a big rug and groom or be groomed—which cheetahs do a lot of the time. “Re-member,” Kim says, “while most dogs could play twenty-four hours a day, cats want to sleep for twenty of those!”

The animals do have some time apart, and they always eat separately. “Dogs inhale and cats chew,” Kim says, so feeding time is where aggression could occur. But once a happy pairing is made between puppy and kitten, “they're companions for life.”

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Scratch a cat behind the ears and make a friend for life. But what if the one doing the scratching has feathers, a beak, and bird feet? That doesn't seem to bother Lucky, a young stray cat that was fortunate enough to be rescued by Libby Miller and Gay Fortson of Savannah, Georgia. After his adoption, Lucky found himself cohabitating with Coco, a brash and outspoken cockatoo that took to the feline with a gentle claw.

Coco was perched on the foot of the owners' sleigh bed one morning, and Lucky, who had not yet met the bird up close, must have been hiding under the bed. When Libby came into the room, “there they were, together on the bed.” She worried for a moment that one would hurt the other, but “Coco was being so gentle! She rubbed Lucky with one foot, then walked back and forth over her head—which Lucky didn't seem to mind at all.” Libby grabbed her camera and recorded the strange interaction. The video eventually made it to the Internet and has since gone viral. “People all around the world love seeing how they get along,” she says.

The two animals continue to be affectionate housemates, despite the bird's potential to do harm with her strong beak and claws. Coco sticks her fingerlike tongue in the little cat's ear, or kneads and nuzzles her, seemingly fascinated by the taste of the soft fur and squishy feel of the body. And Lucky, realizing a good thing, rolls over and offers up her belly to encourage the massage.

At the end of the day, the cat–bird pair happily sits in one of their owners' laps together, “just chilling out,” along with the couple's four dogs. The night doesn't feel right until their pets have all been let out to bond with one another, the ladies say. “We just love that our animals love being together.”

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