Ryan 'Catman' Brill extends a burly arm towards Robi the cheetah. Instantly, Robi flips onto his back. His paws flop and he wriggles ecstatically.

Now, it's my turn to participate in Canberra Zoo's 'meet a cheetah' experience. As I walk towards Robi, time slows to a crawl. He watches me through almond eyes and I wonder how it would feel to be pounced on.

Cheetahs are tough. They can run as fast as 110km/h. This makes them the world's fastest land animals. And they have the muscle to bring down an antelope or even a wildebeest.

My maximum speed is about 5km/h and I have no natural defences. The indemnity form I've signed increases my paranoia.

But Robi stays cool, which perhaps should come as no surprise. In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs kept them as pets - they're supposedly the gentlest of the big cats, although that may not be saying much.

I lie beside Robi and ask where I should stroke him. 'Anywhere,' Brill says. Anywhere? 'Stroke him under the chin,' Brill says. Yeah, right. The chin strikes me as a touch too close to the business end of the four-year-old Nairobi-born predator.

But I comply and Robi nods. His fur is quite rough - very different from that of a domestic cat. As my encounter underlines, cheetahs also differ radically from leopards, which are thickset and equipped with rosette-shaped spots. The cheetah, whose name comes from a Hindi word meaning 'spotted one', has solid round, or oval, spots.

Robi's body is skinny and yet 'ripped' considering he just languishes in the shade of a gum tree for much of the day. He's also ignoring two hotties, Shasa and Tanzi, sprawling in a cave a stroll away.


Cheetahs once walked North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. About 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, most of the population disappeared, leaving only clusters in Asia and Africa. The remaining animals are as inbred as the folk of a remote rural town, which causes weak immune systems and an increased risk of disease and death.

In theory, cheetahs aren't endangered. But it wouldn't take much for them to wind up on the list, Brill says. He's keen for Robi to spread his seed. I find it hard to imagine the cool cat making a move. According to Brill, the secret is to separate the male from the female - then, his libido really kicks in.

The potential father has supposedly never harmed anybody. During my audience, the only sticky moment comes when I stretch to tickle his tummy and he makes to grasp my arm. Otherwise, Robi appears to pose no more of a threat than one of those pampered apartment cats.

Fed deer, horse and the like, Robi has no need to hunt. He seems disinclined to do anything more energetic than rolling on his back for a tickle.

Finally, he summons up the energy to walk off on me. He irresistibly reminds me of a book entitled “Your Cat’s Just Not That Into You: "What part of Meow don't you understand?"

Meet a Cheetah, daily. Places limited; A$150 a person, max two people per encounter (must be over 12 years old and 1.5-metres tall); entitles ticket-holders to all-day entry to Canberra Zoo. Inquiries: (02) 62878400.