Cheetahs are so shy that zoos give them their own emotional “support dogs”

As one of the most dangerous and fastest animals on the planet, you wouldn’t expect them to be empathetic. Nevertheless, this is exactly how cheetahs behave.

In fact, they can’t even socialize or reproduce because they’re so anxious and stressed. That’s why they’re in need of assistance. A totally unanticipated source provided the ideal solution to the problem at hand.

After conducting research into their behavior, it was clear that they needed help. Since then, they’ve been given their own emotional support dogs by zookeepers.

At the St. Louis Zoo, Jack Grisham, vice president of animal collections and the North American cheetah species survival plan coordinator, called it “a love story of one species helping another species survive.”

Janet Rose-Hinostroza, animal training supervisor at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, says that “a dominant dog is quite useful since the African animals are fairly timid instinctively, and you can’t breed that out of them.” Cheetah cubs learn to follow the dog’s lead when they are paired with a guide dog.” In order for them to feel more comfortable and willing to get it on, you need to get them to “read that calm, happy-go-lucky attitude from the dog.”

There you go, cheetahs, learn from the doggies and procreate!