Cheetah's affections for builder no lick-and-tell affair

Brandon O'Reilly proved an attractive visitor to one of Auckland Zoo's locals. Photo / Janna Dixon

When Brandon O'Reilly left the African wilderness for a new life in New Zealand, he never expected to run into big cats again.

So when the Zimbabwe-born construction worker and his colleagues were knocking down an old wall at Auckland Zoo, a big cheetah's amorous advances left him lost for words.

O'Reilly and about six other men were told to stop work and turn off machinery when the cheetahs approached with four zookeepers. The cats were on leashes.

The cats were typically aloof, until one big cheetah became seemingly mesmerised by the men's high-visibility clothing.

"They react to the orange vest," said O'Reilly, 35. "You feel like you want to stroke them but the rule is we have to stand still, so we let them do their thing."

One especially curious cat took a close interest in O'Reilly, perhaps because of his African origins.

"It was if to say, 'You're in my territory. What are you doing here?' We just stood still and allowed the cheetah to come up and lick my hand.

"It was a bit of a hair-raising experience. We were standing almost to attention, crapping ourselves."

He said the big cat had a sandpaper-textured tongue, much like a domestic moggy. O'Reilly and his family have a long association with wild cats. His uncle led a lion-breeding programme in Zimbabwe, raising orphaned cubs that game rangers found in the highveld bush.

His colleagues weren't quite so accustomed to big carnivores. "They've only seen them on the Discovery Channel," O'Reilly said.

Auckland Zoo has two 6-year-old male cheetahs, Osiris and Anubis, but neither gave any sign of fondly remembering O'Reilly when he paid a follow-up visit to get his photo snapped with the cats.

O'Reilly will be working on Te Wao Nui, the zoo's latest native wildlife project, for another three weeks.

He will eventually move on to other jobs, but he says a return trip to visit his new friend later this year will be a top priority.