Our Rietvlei female welcomes another litter
On Tuesday the 22/03/2022, our Wildlife Monitor discovered 5 new cheetah cubs belonging to the Rietvlei Female Cheetah. The cubs are believed to be about 3 days old and are still in their den site. The den site will be left undisturbed to allow the best chance of mom raising the new cubs.
The Miracle 8’s first bites at cheetah adulthood
The Miracle 8 are certainly growing up right before our eyes. And as they grow up, we decided it was time to bring in the next step of their rewilding process – food that doesn’t arrive in a bowl! They started off small by giving them some zebra legs – stripped of the meat but […]
Forming a New Coalition
Ever heard of someone saying they are bonding cheetah? We received 2 new 18-month-old cheetah males. One from Nkomazi Game Reserve in Mpumalanga, that was purchased through the EWT metapopulation programme, and one from Northwest Parks Board caught in the Kalahari, that was kindly sponsored to the DGR through Cheetah Outreach www.cheetah.co.za, an organisation focussed […]
Miracle 5 Cheetah Diary Entry 5: Warning, cuteness overload!
In the last update we reported that the three new cubs had finally started settling in at the sanctuary. Well, we are thrilled to say that things have only gotten better since then, thanks to the constant dedication and care from our sanctuary staff. Even though the progress is in the form of small victories, […]
The Miracle 5 Cheetah Diary Entry 4: New Kids on the Block!
Another three cheetah cubs are at the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary. Their mother had not been poached, but rather killed by a lion – a sad reality of the wild. The DGR rangers did an absolutely great job in catching the cubs, but the wily little cheetah gave them the run-around for a whole 9 […]
The Miracle 5 Cheetah Diary Entry 3: The mystery of the phantom pooper
Over the past few weeks, there was an unusual Sherlock Holmes case that had unfolded at the cheetah enclosure. When feeding the cubs one morning, Caroline discovered a ‘gift’ on the transport cage in the night pen. Amused, but thinking nothing more of it, the day went on as always. However, once this habit had […]
The Miracle 5 Cheetah Diary Entry 2: Playing Wild
A new addition to the enclosure for the cubs was sourced by Kevin Richardson Foundation director and cheetah carer, Caroline – a dead tree for them to play on! Imagine going into your backyard as a kid and finding a jungle gym that had suddenly sprouted. That excitement and thrill certainly spans across species as […]
The Miracle 5 Cheetah Diary Entry 1: Survival and early days
After their mother did not return to her den, the survival of the cubs became a race against time. Cubs can only survive 24-48 hours without dehydrating and dying. Luckily, the Dinokeng Game Reserve anti-poaching team was quick to detect that the cheetah mother’s GPS satellite collar had stopped moving, and they immediately dispatched a […]
Allomothering
“Allomatural infant care/handling, or non-maternal infant care/handling is alloparenting performed by any group member other than the mother or genetic father and thus is distinguished from parental care. It is a widespread phenomenon among mammals and birds.” Our cheetahs have been doing exceptionally well in terms of breeding. Currently, our Rietvlei female, and her daughter […]
Cheetah Translocation – Amakhosi Safari Lodge
In May 2020 we received a 17 month old male cheetah from Amakhosi Safari Lodge in KZN as part of the EWT cheetah metapopulation programme. The arrangement was a swap transaction, they gave us a male and we will return a male to them when the animal was ready, in terms of age, to be […]
