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.