Cheetahs back in African wild
MOUNT Camdeboo, the private game reserve in the Great Karoo region owned by the Buchanan family, has recorded not one, but two wins in the race to save wild cheetah from extinction.
Both success stories involve animals born in captivity – including two brothers hand-reared in Britain – and which are in the process of being “wilded”. The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, has been declared a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Partnering with Mount Camdeboo are Ashia Cheetah Conservation from South Africa, and the Aspinall Foundation in Britain.
Ashia is a not-for-profit organisation that tests and treats captive-born cheetah for disease and malnutrition. The animals’ DNA is also mapped.
Four-year-old brothers Nairo and Saba were donated to Mount Camdeboo by the Aspinall Foundation. They arrived in South Africa last February from a zoo in England, the first cheetah born in Britain to return to their African roots.
Saba was (of necessity) hand-reared by Victoria Aspinall, wife of Aspinall Foundation chairman Damian.
“Our relationship with the Aspinall Foundation is based on respect and trust,” says Mount Camdeboo owner Iain Buchanan.
“Damian and Victoria visited the reserve in 2019 and I told them of my desire to return the eastern Karoo to the days, 150 to 200 years ago, when it teemed with wildlife.
“We took them for a helicopter flip around the reserve and they were blown away. I think they could picture their precious cubs running free in this magical landscape.
“We explained the Mount Camdeboo approach to conservation over the past two decades and they completely bought into our philosophy, ethos and vision. They were happy to shake hands on the deal right there and then,” says Buchanan.
In this area is Ava, another “Ashia” cheetah. She is older than Saba and Nairo, and a year further in the wilding process. Ava had her first litter of cubs in December 2020. Both sets of animals are monitored by Les Slabbert, one of Mount Camdeboo’s most experienced field guides.
Having a sheltered upbringing has proven to be no handicap to the brothers, he says, and they are in a class of their own when it comes to hunting.
“I recently watched them pull down a fully grown kudu bull – something even wild-born cheetah would never normally attempt – in a classic two-animal kill. Hunting is definitely in their genes,” said Slabbert.
Saba and Nairo, he adds, are also quickly losing the dependence they developed in England on humans for companionship. Ava, says Les, is rearing her two cubs “as if she’s been doing it all her life – instead of for the first time.” The litter was sired by one of Mount Camdeboo’s “wild” cheetahs.
“While a first-time mother’s cubs are always more at risk than her subsequent litters, the absence of other predators in the enclosure enhances the chances of these little ones’ survival.
“They are very active and are clearly healthy.”