17.
“Cheetahs are very shy animals, so, some zoos give them support dogs like those for humans. It’s the cutest thing ever. The bigger reason for this is that a cheetah’s vision likes to hyper focus. In a crowd like the ones at the zoo, they would get anxious looking at each individual and would try to analyse each person, which can be very stressful for them. Dogs are VERY good at reading groups and crowds. They pair a dog with the cheetah to rely on emotionally. If the dog is calm, the cheetah will trust them that there’s nothing to worry about from those crowds.”
“How do zoos prevent the cheetah from killing the dog?
They’re typically introduced at a VERY young age and imprint on each other. Cheetahs are also not naturally driven to kill dogs as prey. A cheetah could kill a dog, but typically a cheetah would never hunt a dog in the wild. If it was in its territory, or if a dog appeared hurt and by itself, a cheetah might go for an opportunistic kill, but those are special circumstances. The most likely situation you’d see in the wild would be if they were hunting the same prey and they fought over a kill.”
— SnooWoofers455