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Animal park's cheetah may race on Top Gear

By: KentOnline reporter multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 00:00, 17 January 2008

Cheetahs may soon be seen at the park in Lullingstone Lane, Eynsford. Picture: WAYNE SHILLING

IT could be a scene from the BBC’s Big Cat Diary.

But wildlife enthusiasts will not have to travel as far as Africa’s savannahs to see one particular majestic creature.

At Eagle Heights, in Lullingstone Lane, Eynsford, families may soon be able to see a cheetah in action as the park seeks to become the first in the UK to race the fastest of all land animals on a run.

The animal park has even written to BBC2’s Top Gear to see if it would be interested in racing the park’s cheetah against a car.

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Alan Ames, Eagle Heights manager, said: "We have not heard back from the Top Gear team yet. The race would have to be matched evenly though, with the race being held over 200 metres and against a Jaguar (car).

"It is totally practical. We could put the cheetah on the grass and the Jaguar on the road and they could run side-by-side."

The six-month-old cheetah cub in question, called Boumani, which means Warrior in Mali, is from a breeder in Germany.

Boumani is currently in quarantine and will be released to the Eynsford animal park on March 17.

The park then hopes to race Boumani, who has been hand-reared, alongside a 200m steel wire suspended between two steel poles at either end.

Visitors to the run, which will be part of the park’s Africa show, would then see the animal race up to 70mph in just three seconds downhill when fully grown.

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BIAZA, British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which has more than 80 of the country’s biggest zoos as members, says it will be the first animal park in the UK to feature such an attraction.

Mr Ames said: "I have wanted a cheetah since I was kid. They are not dangerous like tigers and lions, they are built for speed."

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