Leia

Sadly we have recently had to say goodbye to one of our oldest and most charismatic residents, 13 year old Leia, who was put to sleep after entering the final stages of renal failure. Leia was the second cheetah to arrive at CCF in 1997 and has been one of the stars of the show ever since. Leia was the quintessential cheetah with elegant features and a regal demeanor, exactly the kind of cheetah you would imagine sitting by the Pharaoh’s side in ancient Egypt.

Leia can claim to be one of CCF’s most photographed cats as her pen was visited almost daily by tourists enjoying a cheetah viewing safari and she has amazed hundreds of people over the years with her amazing running at cheetah runs, in-fact Leia was still putting some of our younger cats to shame only 6 months ago until her illness took over.


Leia will be greatly missed by all who knew her but especially by myself and Kate who have had the pleasure of looking after her for 19 months. It feels very strange not seeing her on our daily feeding routine :(


Photos by Rob Thomson.