Zoos Are Giving Cheetahs Their Own Emotional Support Dogs, and It's Too Cute – AOL.com

How can the fastest land animals on Earth rank among the most anxious big cats? Well, that's the record that Cheetahs hold! Zoos have spent decades trying to understand why a species built for speed struggles so much with stress, especially in captivity.

Cheetahs do not thrive alone, and history has made that painfully clear. In the wild, cub survival rates remain low, and even in professional care, isolation often leads to pacing, skittish behavior, and trouble bonding. For years, caretakers searched for ways to calm these cats without turning their lives into controlled experiments. What worked did not involve new enclosures or high-tech enrichment. It involved companionship.

Cheetahs evolved to flee danger, not confront it. Larger predators routinely drive them away from kills, put their cubs at risk, and control much of the territory cheetahs depend on. That instinct stays strong in captivity. Loud environments, unfamiliar animals, and even their own species can trigger nervous behavior.

Data highlights the stakes. Fewer than 7K mature cheetahs remain worldwide, a drop of more than 90 percent since 1900. Only about five percent of cubs survive to adulthood in the wild. Stress plays a role in breeding challenges, social development, and overall health. Zoos needed a way to address anxiety early, before it became ingrained.

The breakthrough arrived in 1976, when a lone cheetah cub was paired with a puppy after being raised without siblings. The bond worked instantly. The dog provided steady companionship, helped regulate the cub’s behavior, and acted as a social anchor. That early success became a blueprint.

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