Busch Gardens' Cheetahs Run Tropicana Field for New "Saving A Species" Documentary

Animals from Busch Gardens’ Newest Habitat Filmed Running Across the St. Pete Stadium for New Conservation Program

Tampa, Fla. (March 5, 2012) – On Friday, March 9, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (SEA)will broadcast the most recent installment of its Saving a Species series, which features some of Busch Gardens Tampa’s most popular new residents – the cheetahs – and St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field.

With the stadium closed to outside visitors and the turf marked for the St. Petersburg Bowl football game, the cheetahs were encouraged to run the length of the field, chasing a lure system identical to the one in their Cheetah Run habitat. The cats’ efforts were captured by high-definition and slow-motion cameras.

“ Even though we have this awesome habitat at Busch Gardens, a 100-yard football field will give us the opportunity to showcase what that speed looks like on a field that people can relate to ,” said Tim Smith, a Busch Gardens assistant curator who works with the cheetahs daily.

Saving A Species: Cheetah
From its breathtaking speed to its beauty and vulnerability, the cheetah’s story will bring you face to face with their fragile existence. We’ll introduce you to people around the globe who are working on behalf of this imperiled predator and explain how you can help keep cheetahs from disappearing forever.

The 25-minute program is available to teachers and broadcasters free of charge. It will be broadcast without commercials from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. (first 15-minutes are color bars) on Friday, March 9. Satellite coordinates, copyright information and web-quality preview segments are available at ShamuTV.com. In the coming months, the site will also be adding educational materials to complement the episode – including instructional videos, activity descriptions and teacher’s guides – for elementary and middle school teachers.

Shamu TV’s Saving a Species

Shamu TV’s Saving a Species series features amazing animal stories close to home and around the world.  With a focus on wildlife and wild places, this Emmy award-winning series enables viewers to trek alongside Busch Gardens and SeaWorld animal experts to visit exotic, remote locations and experience some of our planet’s most extraordinary species.  Viewers will also witness how people – scientists, zoological experts, community members, educators and children – are working together to protect these species and the places they call home.

Airing via satellite, Shamu TV is broadcast by local educational cable channels, ITV and PBS stations throughout the United States.  Shamu TV has received a Daytime Emmy Award for best Children/Family/Youth special and eight regional Emmy awards for Outstanding Achievement/Children’s Programming, as well as four Telly awards in the Educational Programming category.