Cheetah Gets Loose in Cargo Hold on Delta Flight
Black cats on Halloween are pretty standard fare, but a 90-pound kitty in the cargo bin? That's what a Delta baggage worker found when she went to unload bags at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport last Friday and found a cheetah running loose amid the luggage!
Two cheetahs were being transported from the Wild Safari Park, in Winston, Oregon, to the Memphis Zoo and one of them managed to escape from its crate en route. Delta brought the 757 jet to an enclosed hangar and summoned help from an Atlanta zoo.
Dr. Sam Rivera, a Zoo Atlanta veterinarian, shot the 1-year-old female cat in the shoulder with a tranquilizer gun. The animals were both transported to Zoo Atlanta and are in quarantine. “They are doing well,” Rivera said. “They are very relaxed and are eating.”
Memphis Zoo officials are expected to pick up the pair early next week.
No passengers were in danger, and no luggage was damaged by the cheetahs.