Cheetahs On A Plane

Big cats get loose on a Delta flight en route to new home

A baggage worker for Delta got an uncool Halloween surprise when she opened the cargo hold to a passenger jet at Atlanta's airport: She discovered a full-grown cheetah running amidst the bags. The one-year-old female was one of a pair of cats being delivered to the Memphis Zoo from Oregon.

"They told us a large animal had gotten out of a container in the cargo hold and they were having to send someone to tranquilize it," said one passenger, Lee Sentell of Montgomery, Ala.

The airline summoned help from Zoo Atlanta, and experts rushed to a closed airport hangar and tranquilized the escaped animal and took both big cats to the zoo.

Despite being excitable cats with non-retractable claws and some of the most powerful legs in the animal kingdom, the cheetahs didn't damage any of the baggage (though it was delayed).

How courteous of the cheetahs. Say what you will, but you know a leopard would've ransacked the luggage for duty-free cologne and chocolate.

—Ted Alvarez

Cheetahs on plane: Animal gets loose in cargo hold (AP) Via The Outdoor Pressroom