People have been left gobsmacked after a dog was spotted taking a nap in a African cheetah enclosure at a zoo. The bizarre snap was shared to Reddit by user Davidowicza, who had visited the wildlife park in the hopes of seeing a big cat - but was instead met with a golden Labrador having a snooze.
As reported by the Mirror, he captioned the now viral post: "Went to the zoo today and I'm 99 percent sure that's not a cheetah..." It received more than 111,000 upvotes with thousands of people leaving well-placed jokes in the comments section.
"When you lie on your resume, but you are an excellent liar," someone replied, and another chiming in: "...or an excellent cheater."
"It's a stand-in. The cheetah's on holiday in Africa," another user joked, while a Redditor said: "Man, its camouflage is crazy good!"
Though many people were quick to recognise the dog at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey, US, and explained the cheetah would actually be in the enclosure with him. "Cheetahs are very high stress and anxiety animals and are often paired with dogs from a young age for companionship," someone clarified.
Davidowicza said: "It was still funny approaching from a distance and being like 'That's one odd looking chubby cheetah'."
Bowie the Labrador is, in fact, a support animal and surprising best friend to Nandi the cheetah. The pair have been inseperable for years now - since they were a few weeks old - and often attend events to educate the public on conserving the lives of big cats.
Turtle Back Zoo explain that Nandi has gained the confidence of a dog and "always has Bowie to turn to in new situations". Wherever Nandi goes Bowie follows, so that she always feels comfortable and reassured.
The sweet feline loves wrestling and cuddling with her canine best bud, and absolutely loves tennis balls and ice toys that she can bat around and chase. Scientists estimate that there are only 7,100 cheetahs left in the wild as they are frequently killed by farmers and affected by loss of prey from human hunting.
Cheetahs are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and their future currently remains uncertain.
Another zoo recently welcomed a singleton cheetah cub, named Rozi, into its enclosure - and will soon be introducing her to her very own support dog. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, in America, made the decision to let Rozi live alongside puppy Daisy in an attempt to socialise her.
Cat Ambassador Program (CAP) lead trainer Linda Castañeda said: "Canine companionship provides play and socialisation opportunities that humans cannot give the cub."
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