Hey everybody. This is Ellen Weatherford. I'm here with Just the Zoo of Us, and today we've got a brand new friend. This is Gabby Fleury. Say hi, Gabby. Hi. I'm so excited to talk to you. Today we're talking about Cheetahs. We're going to go real fast. But first, before we talk about Cheetahs, I want to talk a little bit about you. So let us know a little bit. You mentioned that you have worked with Cheetahs before. So what got you into your work with cheetahs and other carnivores? So it's kind of a long, winding story. It's really funny because people always ask, you know, how did you know that you wanted to be in conservation? I wanted to be in conservation since I had like a conscious decision about what I was into

because I was so obsessed with wildlife. And I always joke that I just watched way too much like Captain Planet and the Planetaires and it just kind of warped me. And like this is why I do what I do. But honestly, I've just, I've always been passionate about it. about it and with African Carnivore specifically my dad is Brazilian but he's a Van Gogol and

the scent so he always telling me like folklore stories and tying it into kind of like our backgrounds. I was always really passionate about specifically Southern Africa. And with Cheetahs, Chitas are really interesting. I actually don't know why I specifically got into cheetahs when I was really little, but I was really hardcore about them because everyone we'd be like, oh, here's a leopard. Like they give me like a postcard with a leopard, be like, it's a cheetah. And I'd be like, no. Were you the kid who would be like standing there at the zoo by the exhibits and be like, actually? I was exactly that kid. Yeah, I was definitely that kid. But I always get really like cranky. I remember my mom got me like a picture of a jaguar. And she's like, here's a cheetah. And I'm just like, it's in a rainforest. It's in a rainforest. But yeah, and I'm also a pediatric cancer survivor. So I think the fact that I couldn't run very fast because I had a reconstructed left leg. So it was actually kind of interesting because I was going through PT. And like it's like my interest in Cheetahs became even more and more because I was like they can do what I can't, which is be super speedy. And just as a personality, I've always just kind of been like got to go fast on like the hedgehog kind of person. So yeah, that's why they're my faves. And so I actually started working just on

lion and livestock conflict issues in Ebassili, Kenya, but there were overlap of other predators

like leopards and cheetahs and things like that and having to understand how all these different

carnivores in the ecosystem interact and how that impacts livestock losses. So when carnivores go after

farmer's livestock. And I didn't really have my first cheetah-related job until I started

working at Cheetah Conservation Fund after my master's degree, which was really cool because

I wrote the founder, Lori Marker, when I was seven, and got like a t-shirt.

And she wrote me back, which is really cool. And when I had my interview, I was like wearing the t-shirt because it had been like a t-shirt. And she wrote me back, which is really cool. And when I had my interview, I was like wearing the t-shirt because it had been like a dress on me. So I was like actually wearing it. And be like, I'm wearing the shirt you gave me when I was like seven years old. Oh my gosh. I love that so much. That's such a full circle. Like. Totally full circle. And it was really cool. So I got to work there. I worked there for about a year and I did work on their human

wildlife conflict team so I got to work there. I worked there for about a year. And I did work on their human wildlife conflict team. So I led their human wildlife conflict team and did some different studies and working with farmers and things like that. So it was super cool. And the neat thing about that place as well is that they have a lot of cheetahs that can't be rehabilitated. Like usually they'll try to rehabilitate cheetahs that they can and release it back into the wild, but sometimes they can't. So there's a bunch of cheetahs there that kind of in a sanctuary kind of situation. So as I was walking to the office, you know, there'd be like cats on the other side of me. And that was always kind of neat. Aww. What is their personality like when you work with them? It's an idea of what it's like to actually work around Cheetahs.

Cheetahs are really interesting. They all have very unique personalities. I'd say that cheetahs because of their biology and because they're kind of of the big cats, they're, I hate to say wimpy, but they're kind of like the wimpy big cats. They're not very strong and a lot of other carnivores will push them around or will be actively danger to them because basically cheetahs, um, biologically, they sacrifice all of their strength for speed to be able to be really fast. They can't have a lot of muscle mass. They can't be, you know, very strong. So they're a little, like, skittish.

Oh, they're the nerds of the big cats. I think that's why I like them so much, because I, I too, am a nerd. But they're, yeah, they're very kind of like skittish and cautious, a little less outwardly aggressive, I guess, than some other cats. I know that on conflict calls, like, if we had, you know, we heard it was a leopard, we were always a lot more nervous than if it was a cheetah, because cheetahs were actually straight up just trying to, I mean, all animals tried to avoid people, but in a high-stress situation, the cheetah would be less dangerous than the leopard in that same situation. So yeah, and maybe, like, I mean, this is anthropomorphizing, but maybe, like, a little fussy. They tend to be a little finicky, you know, like many cats. I've seen a lot of videos floating around, like, on YouTube and stuff of cheetahs climbing into, like, jeeps and stuff of like people that are driving around and cheetahs are just like, hey, I want to see what you're all about and they like climb on top of the Jeep and look around and stuff. Was that like something that you had to deal with a lot? Are they very curious? I mean, I'm sure they're curious. I never had one climb on top of a car. They've always like stayed away from the car because again, like in my experience, it's quite skittish. Again, I was working in namibia and i was working in places where there wasn't high levels of tourists so i think a lot of those videos come from places like the masaymara where the cats get really habituated to people um i

would not say that that's like a a natural behavior for any wild animal to do that so i think

it's because they see people so much that they actually

become very used to it. And there's actually some stories of, you know, like, I think it was Cheetahs,

actually. They would leave, like, their babies near the cars and then go hunting, like, using

the tourist vehicles as, like, babysitters. Huh. So, like, the animals got really used to it. But that's, like,

not, not normal behavior. I love the time they'll just stay off by themselves who kind of see them in the distance or under a tree somewhere. Oh man, I would be so excited to see what. I've seen them in zoos. I've never seen one in the wild, but they're really beautiful. I'd be really excited to see what even from a long distance. That would be really cool.

They're amazing. And watching them run is amazing.

Oh, I bet. I bet. I bet. Okay, I'm going to ask you some lots of questions about them running in just a couple minutes. But first, for people that maybe aren't super familiar with like cat taxonomy, like where did Cheetahs fall in relationship to other cats?

Okay, yeah, that's a really good question.

...