As founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Dr. Laurie Marker chose to commemorate Khayam, a cheetah she raised at the Wildlife Safari she ran in Oregon, by establishing December 4th as International Cheetah Day in his memory. Khayam served as part of an important experiment determining whether or not captive Cheetahs can be taught to hunt and live in the wild on their own again. After a trip to Namibia, the experiment was proven successful, though she and Khayam returned home after observing local hunters eliminating wild cheetahs as a threat to their livelihood. Driven by this encounter she moved to Namibia to help heal the rift between farmers and the majestic cheetah and founded the CCF in 1990. Cheetahs are incredible animals, being the fastest land mammal in the wild today. There are only 8,000 of these creatures left in the wild today, a number that leaves them as Africa’s most endangered feline. Cheetah’s hold their position as world’s fastest land mammal thanks to some tricks of evolution that have perfectly adapted them for high speed. Their full running speed is so fast that their feet only touch the ground once every 6-7 meters, and their muscular tail helps to steer them like a rudder at these high speeds. Needless to say, once a cheetah has prey in their sites, there’s no running away.
I once went to a posh party where a woman was wearing real cheetah skin. I can’t remember if it was boots or a belt, or whatever. I got politely asked to leave for calling her a word that’s in Scunthorpe!
You called her a “Thorpe”! Whatever your thoughts on the lady in question’s attire, there is simply no need for that kind of language!
Not this time. It was back in the day and I was part of the design team that had built a contemporary home for a local factory owner. It was the moving in do and I may have had a sherbet or two too many
