Limpopo Valley Carnivores

Category: Cheetah, South Africa | Date: Jun 24 2009 | By: limpopocarnivores

Yesterday saw us fitting our second Cheetah with a radio-collar, which represents a huge step forward in learning about the behaviour of these charismatic cats in this part of the world, where much of the range of the species is outside of protected areas.

Dr Gerhard Kloppers carried out the darting for us, and was able to tell that we are expecting cubs, using an ultrasound machine hooked up to his car battery. Her stomach was too full to tell how many cubs will be born, but his estimate is that she is in the early stages of pregnancy, and it may be another two months before they are born. This will be towards the end of the dry season when game starts to become more and more localised around water, so hunting should not pose too much of a problem for our mother-to-be.  This is fantastic news and we cannot wait for our new arrivals!

The holding boma is in an area where there are many Hyeanas, both Brown and Spotted, and so we kept her in for one more night, to be sure that the effect of the anaesthetic had fully worn off, before releasing her this morning. We opened the gates first thing and walked slowly to the far end of the enclosure before spreading out to calmly drive her towards the gate. She was very relaxed, and saw the open gate immediately and loped off to freedom.

Cheetahs suffer from extreme persecution from some sectors of the farming community here, and the more firm data we can get about their habits and ultimately their fate in this region, the better equipped we will be so prevent this area from becoming somewhere where Cheetahs used to live.

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Category: Cheetah | Date: Jun 22 2009 | By: limpopocarnivores

The story behind our latest capture really is astounding. We have been struggling to catch Cheetahs to fit radio-collars for some time, and my recent post mentions our first success. Following this, we have been able to get our paws on another Cheetah, this time a female, in the most bizarre of circumstances.

Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve has a long running Wild Dog project, and as part of this, male dogs from outside were being bonded in a boma with two resident females. For his own safety, the yearling offspring of one of the females was kept in an adjoining enclosure. The plan was to release him first, and release the adult dogs the following day. The gate was duly opened, and fingers were crossed while we waited for him to head back to freedom. As he was stepping gingerly towards the open gate, a female cheetah rushed out of the bushes and in the ensuing scuffle, the Wild Dog ran into the bushes and the Cheetah ran into the boma. After months of fruitless trapping, all it took in the end was to simply slide the gate shut. What are the chances of simultaneously releasing one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores while catching another?

We have a vet coming in the morning to dart her and fit the collar. I will post photos!

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Category: Cheetah | Date: Jun 15 2009 | By: limpopocarnivores

They say you should never say never when it comes to animals, and this could not have been more true recently. We have been trying for some time to fit some radio-collars onto Cheetahs, but have struggled to catch any. Cheetahs are notoriously difficult as they do not come into bait like most of the other carnivores, so opportunities to dart or trap them are greatly reduced. One evening while baiting and playing calls of a buffalo calf to draw in a male lion so that he could be darted and have his collar changed, we all learned an important lesson in keeping an open mind. Expecting the Lion to come out of the bushes at any moment, we were surprised to see a coalition of male Cheetahs instead. These animals that “do not eat carrion” fed happily on the bait and one was easily darted.

Cheetahs in this area are typically quite small, but this one was quite an exception. With a big head, and estimated weight of about 55kgs, he was quite a boy! They have been moving around over large areas since we have had the collar on, but have not yet left the reserve. They are still shy, but are gradually becoming more relaxed to the presence of a vehicle.

This is a very exciting development in the carnivore research in this area, and we hope to have more Cheetahs fitted with collars soon. Watch this space!

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