Cheetah holds up Qantas flight

SYDNEY - A cheetah bound for a South Australian zoo has held up a Qantas flight in Melbourne, with ground crew struggling to load the big cat onto the awaiting plane.

The cheetah, six-year-old female Tokoloshe, was being transported from Perth Zoo to Monarto Zoo in Adelaide on Wednesday morning.

However, a hitch with an airport transfer in Melbourne caused a 30-minute delay.

"We're sorry for the delay but we're having some problems loading the cheetah," the pilot reportedly told passengers on board QF675.

Tokoloshe was eventually loaded onto another flight which left Melbourne two hours later.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline regularly transported such animals on its flights.

"We transport thousands of animals a year on our aircraft including things like Tasmanian devils (and) fairy penguins," she said.

- AAP