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Caro! Plato and Earl Pfeifer relax with their two cheetahs, Annie and Robin, at the former Northwood Zoo sanctuary. Earl and Carol and their two cheetahs relocated to “Discovery Wildlife Park” in Innisfail, Alberta the end of September. Scugog becomes a base for couple taking up a cause begins his short parable. “The animals stampeded, and found refuge in a nearby stream. They were con- tent to wait passively for the danger to pass, all except one: a hummingbird shuttled back and forth, emptying what- ever water he could carry in his tiny beak onto the fire, in a vain effort to extinguish the blaze. The point of that story is that everyone can make a difference, even a drop at a time. And even more importantly, it’s our re- sponsibility to try. In the world of cheetahs, you could call Carol and I hummingbirds.” ” O NCE THERE WAS A FIRE in the forest,” Earl Pfeifer “Cheetahs are a severely endangered species with fewer than 10,000 left. It’s our goal to raise awareness’ . .. caro! Piato 10 FOCUS - OCTOBER 2013 Until recently, Earl and his wife Carol Plato were business people contemplating retirement. In Earls words, they wanted to approach those Bolden years by doing more than “taking up "instead, they decided to take up a cause. “Cheetahs are a severely endangered spe- cies,” Carol says. “With fewer than 10,000 of them left, people have to act if we hope to save these incredible animals.” The progressive destruction of their African habitat, she continues, has all but doomed the cheetah to extinction. “Man’s actions have created most of the dan- ger to their population.’ Some of the cheetah’s social characteristics have also contributed to its demise. “Cheetahs can be trapped without the danger posed by a lion or tiger,” Earl explains.