Did You See This?

This Cheetah and Hog Are Amazing at Soccer

But seriously, not bad.

Nia the cheetah and Sir Francis Bacon, the red river hog, love to play soccer. Seriously. In this video from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, we see them get in some playtime with their trainers. Each has different skills: Nia is a fast runner, and Sir Francis is great at scoring goals. They’d make excellent teammates.

Both animals are using skills they’d use in the wild. Cheetahs instinctively chase small, fast-moving objects. Red river hogs use their noses to dig around for food and have to be fast to avoid jungle predators.

At one point, Nia picks up the ball with its teeth. That might be cheating, but we’ll let it slide.