TURTLECREEK TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Warren County’s rural zoning board on Wednesday approved the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s request to build a cheetah exercise facility along Mason Montgomery Road, providing nature’s fastest and furriest with a space to stretch their legs.
The building plan filed by the zoo indicates the facility will not be open to the public but includes a small number of designated parking spaces for zoo vans and donors.
It also includes a 10-foot-tall containment fence and security gate, because cheetahs.
"I have no concerns about safety,” nearby resident Tanya Gautam said. “They (the zoo) have been doing it for 100 years."
Dale Dona, who also lives nearby, said he wasn’t as sure.
“The concerns would be having them get loose and what’s the protocol of tracking them down and everything,” he said.
The zoo does have a plan to contact authorities in case a cheetah escapes, according to the zoning board.
Zoo representatives did not return requests for comment Wednesday night.
