A Loudly Purring African Cheetah Mistakes Repeated Meerkat Attacks as Enjoyable Grooming Sessions

A loudly purring cheetah kitten named Kinji adorably mistook the intentions of a group of angry attacking meerkats on the other side of a wire fence as his personal groomers. Per Dolph C. Volker, the human who cares for all of them along with other animals, Kinji is a very friendly cat and particularly loves the meerkats, but unfortunately the meerkats don’t feel the same way about Kinji.

Here he is at 8 months and 2 years old trying to get the meerkats to scratch him. He ends up purring to the delight of getting a grooming from these small creatures. He has no idea they want to kill him! Meerkats are territorial and do not like predators. Staff label Kinji as “The cheetah that doesn’t purr” and it is rare for sure. I’ve only heard him purr when eating sometimes, playing with a toy sometimes, and encountering his meerkat friends.