Dallas Zoo to raise cheetah cubs with a Labrador puppy - Photos

[joeybee12]

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Reuters) - The Dallas Zoo will raise a pair of cheetah cubs with a Labrador retriever puppy, believing the dog will be a calming influence on the big cats as they grow to adulthood.

The 8-week-old male cheetahs Winspear and Kamau have arrived in Dallas, the zoo said, after a team of experts spent two weeks with them at their birthplace, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va.

They will be raised alongside an 8-week-old black Labrador retriever puppy named Amani, the zoo said in a statement on Thursday.

"Zoological experts have found that because dogs are naturally comfortable in public settings, Amani will provide a calming influence for the cubs, as well as another playmate as they grow to adulthood," the statement said.

http://news.yahoo.com/dallas-zoo-raise-cheetah-cubs-labrador-puppy-172752348.html

More photos at the link

[Agschmid]

1. Adorable!

[burnsei sensei]

2. The life of a cheetah in the wild is often so tragic.

I'm glad these cubs have the puppy around, and I sincerely hope that they can interact constructively with him.

[Cleita]

3. Oh so cute, but I hope Amani doesn't become a snack in the future. n/t

[markiv]

4. the dog's thoughts, 8 months from now

what kind of &@%#ing cats are these?!?!

THEY WONT STOP GROWING!!!!

[KurtNYC]

5. Apparently this has been done before

Busch Gardens...

[B2G]

6. Puppy's like WTF? You trying to get me killed??