Tyre Chomping Cheetah Helps Itself to Backyard Snack

Akea is a cheetah with an appetite for things black, chewy and round….After sneaking out of Hamerton Zoo in Cambridgeshire, the six-foot long African feline headed for the home of the Taylor family, who live nearby. Upon arriving, Akea helped itself to a generous serving of bicycle tyres in their back garden.

The unexpected diner was discovered by nine-year-old Toby Taylor, who initially received a measure of scepticism from his mother. “I thought he was pulling my leg but he was white, shaking and shrill,” said mother Jules. “We peered out of the kitchen window and there it was, sitting bang in the middle of our lawn, looking at the house.” Mother and son waited 20 anxious minutes, watching Akea gnawing on the tyres of Toby’s bike, until keepers dispatched from the zoo arrived.

Zoo director Andrew Swales reports that the tyre hungry cheetah would have posed no threat. “Akea was away for a few minutes, visited our neighbour, had his harness and lead put on and returned home,” he said. “When our keepers arrived in our neighbour’s garden, Akea was happily playing with a bicycle, which must have reminded him of one of his toys.”

Swales believes Akea’s exit from the zoo was facilitated by a faulty electric fencing unit, which has since been replaced.