A new interactive device at Werribee Open Range Zoo is helping visitors catch a glimpse of the elusive cheetah Kulinda.
The zoo has installed a joystick-operated observation camera that allows users to pan across the cheetah habitat to find Kulinda, delivering live footage to a nearby screen.
African River Trail zookeeper Suzanne Szabo said visitors often miss sighting nine-year-old Kulinda, due to her impressive camouflage skills.
“Kulinda is your standard predator,” Ms Szabo said.
“During the day, she prefers to use her camouflage to stay hidden and keep an eye on where everybody else is, which is often an area where she’s difficult to view.
“The cheetah observation camera enables our visitors to zoom in, move a camera around her exhibit to find where she’s hiding, and see how remarkable she is.”
Native to central Iran and the African grasslands and plains environments, a cheetah’s golden coat is almost entirely covered by dark spots, which help them to blend into the shadows of dense grasses.
This evolutionary adaption not only helps cheetahs to hunt their prey, but also helps protect the solitary big cats from larger predator species, such as lions and leopards.
Kulinda helps to educate zoo visitors about the threats facing cheetahs in the wild.
As a wide-ranging carnivore, cheetahs are particularly vulnerable to habitat destruction caused by urbanisation.
There are fewer than 7000 cheetahs remaining in the wild, mostly in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Cheetahs face threats including being targeted by farmers trying to protect their livestock, being killed on roads and illegal wildlife hunting and trafficking.
All tickets to Werribee Open Range Zoo must be pre-booked online at zoo.org.au
Ticketholders 18 years and older are required to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and follow state government directions.
