HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS

This month we are launching a new initiative called HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS.  Cheetah Conservation Fund created a team that can be part of any CCF approved charity team around the country for runners, walkers, bikers, and other racers who want to participate in athletic events and raise money to help save the cheetah by supporting CCF.  

Dr. Laurie Marker and Honorary HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS Chairperson Jack Hanna invite you to join the first HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, May 18, 2014 as they run or walk in the Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.  Join as a virtual team member and receive all the team benefits, even if you can’t join us in person. 

HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS Honorary Chairperson, Jack Hanna.Recognized around the country as America's favorite zookeeper, Jack Hanna is Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, a conservationist, author, television personality, and lifelong adventurer.   We are very happy to have Jack Hanna supporting our new HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS initiative. 

This is our first charity team event in what is planned to be a series of HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS athletic events around the country, raising awareness and money to save the cheetah in the wild by engaging in outdoor activities like running, walking or biking.    

Want to join the team? Go to:  http://www.cheetah.org/humansforcheetahs for details on the event and how to join in the fun in Portland. We are pleased to be an official charity partner of the Portland Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. 

In exchange for donating or raising $250 for CCF, we will cover the cost of your registration as a HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team member in the Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. There are all kinds of ways you can raise money, but we’ve set up an online campaign with Crowdrise to help you!

As part of the HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team, you’ll be invited to a special team party May 17^th. Meet fellow team members and be inspired by a cheetah ambassador.  To show your team pride, you get a Nike dri-fit team shirt.

Coming from out of town?  Team members may stay at The Paramount Hotel in Portland and receive a 25% discount for a rate of $149.50 per night plus tax on May 17 and May 18.

http://www.portlandparamount.com

But the great news is that you can be a member of HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS, even if you don’t want to run a half marathon. Become a Virtual Team member, and receive all the benefits of a team member, just by raising money for CCF.

And there are even more ways you can get involved.  You can support a team member by donating to their fundraising effort. For as little as $10 you can make a difference to an athlete looking to help win the race against extinction. Go to our team page at Crowdrise here.

http://www.crowdrise.com/humansforcheetahs/fundraiser/cheetahconservationf. You can even use a personal milestone like a birthday or anniversary to  adopt a team member.  Ask people to support the HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team in lieu of gifts.

The most important part of our new HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS effort is that we’d like to see more teams, in more sports activities in more cities. Contact beth@cheetah.org if you would like to coordinate a HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team in your city.  

As is always the case, an effort like this doesn’t happen without the help of some awesome humans.  Teresa Delaney, a Trustee Emeritus of CCF has been spearheading this project with Co-Chair Dave Bell.  Dylan Lee and Andy Prince, who work at Wieden + Kennedy Advertising Agency, donated their time and amazing talent to create our beautiful logo and are helping with CCF’s messaging of the event.  We would also like to thank Ecotrust and Foot Traffic for their support.

If you are interested in becoming a team sponsor, please contact Teresa Delaney at teresa@cheetah.org

ABOUT THE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HALF MARATHON IN PORTLAND:

For more information about the Portland Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon course and other details, go to:

http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/portland?gclid=CJmZx-aznLwCFRFyQgodvxIAMA

Forgotten Red-Listers Blog #1: The Secretarybird

One of the most popular sightings to be had at CCF, is that of a Secretarybird.  They're not particularly common here, but we do have a couple of pairs who seem to persist in the area.

The secretarybird is extremely distinctive and really cannot be mistaken for anything else. It stands up to 1.5m tall with an eagle-like head and weighs up to 5 kg.  They fly well, but generally hunt on the ground, striding across open grasslands while searching for their chosen prey of snakes, including some extremely venomous ones, small mammals (including some carnivores), large insects and other reptiles. Prey is often killed by being stamped on repeatedly by the secretarybird's powerful legs.

A pair will often return to the same tree or bush to lay eggs year after year, and we have identified one such location on the edge of our Big Field.  Each mating can produce up to four eggs, although fewer are more likely.  Aside from the need to nest, the secretarybirds prefer open grasslands and savannas, and will spend most of their time there.  They will sometimes wait on the fringes of a bush-fire and prey on animals flushed out by the flames.

Despite being powerful, charismatic, and present in some 35 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, secretarybirds are nonetheless classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Redlist.  Their exact numbers are unknown, but believed to be in the five-figure range, and their numbers are definitely decreasing. 

The main cause is habitat loss due to spreading urban areas, and increased farming.  The presence of cattle, and herders, tends to drive the main prey species away.  There is also an illegal trade in live secretarybirds for private collectors, but as yet not enough information exists to establish how significant this is. 

More research is needed on both fronts, to find out exactly what is happening, and hopefully to educate farmers on the damage being done in this respect.  Secretarybirds will not be disappearing in the near future, but there could eerily come a time when they become limited to within the boundaries of National Parks and other protected reserves. 

A Black Friday for CCF

Quasar

We were abruptly awakened by a commotion at dawn on Friday morning involving three of our resident, non-releasable cheetahs.  Somehow the three cheetahs from the coalition we call “the Stars” managed to escape their enclosure. Quasar and his sister Soraya were nowhere to be found. Quasar’s brother Phoenix had found his way into the goat pen area.

Dr. Bruce Brewer, our General Manager, quickly brought Phoenix back to his camp, while staff, volunteers, students and interns went out to search for the two missing Stars.

It was not long before we found Quasar. He hadn’t gone far, but was badly injured. He had lost a great deal of blood. Quasar had serious injuries to his abdomen, which we later determined were most likely inflicted by a warthog tusk. He might have been trying to hunt the warthog, and the warthog defended itself from this inexperienced hunter. Quasar, orphaned since birth, never had the opportunity to learn survival skills from his mother. Knowing how to identify dangerous animals, maintaining a territory, finding water, knowing when to walk away from a kill, or what to hunt or how, are essential to a cheetah’s success in the wild.

Once Quasar was discovered, a flurry of activity began. Some of us kept looking for Soraya, others prepared to safely transport Quasar to the CCF Clinic, while yet others were phoning the vet in Otjiwarongo, Dr. Axel Hartman, and prepping the clinic for surgery.

Dr. Hartmann and CCF’s veterinarian, Dr. Amelia Zakiewicz, performed a two-hour surgery to clean and suture the damage caused by the warthog tusk. There was fear of peritonitis, but in the end the surgery went well and Quasar was put on close watch to make sure that he was recovering well after such a traumatic injury and significant procedure. Unfortunately, his heart stopped a few hours later, and despite all our efforts to resuscitate him, it did not resume beating. Our Star, Quasar, passed away at 2:40 that afternoon, and left a tremendous hole in all our lives – most especially his brother Phoenix’s.

Soraya

Soraya is still out there and we continue to look for her. CCF’s Senior Ecologist, Matti Nghikembua, who is an amazing tracker, has found what seem to be her tracks in the area, but female cheetahs are notoriously more difficult to find than males. We believe she’s doing well –in captivity, she has caught small animals, and might be doing the same in the wild. Perhaps she has chosen freedom. She was the most independent of the three siblings, and is very likely the most capable of surviving on her own. We hope to find her soon, but if we don’t, we wish her a life full of good kills and maybe even some litters.

CCF is located in wild lands – we are hours away from the nearest city, the land is drought-ridden and life here can be very hard. Last Friday points out this stark reality for all of us. It was one of our blackest days ever at CCF. All of us at CCF are shattered at the loss of Quasar, and worried for Soraya’s survival. At least we can be grateful that Phoenix is safe. Quasar will never be far from us who knew him, and like Chewbaaka, we will honour him through the ongoing work we do to save his species. Despite the high emotion and unexpected loss, our outstanding team of staff, interns and volunteers is carrying on. There are farmers to educate, Livestock Guarding Dogs to breed, a Model Farm to run, research to complete. Life at CCF has to go on; today we have eight newborn dairy goats that give us a reason to smile and to gather strength. More importantly, the race against extinction for the cheetah can’t stop, not if we want to win it. A tragedy like this, as difficult as it is, only makes us more determined.

Quasar

Keeping an Eye on Amani

About seven months ago, one of CCF’s resident non-releasable cheetahs, Amani, developed a corneal lesion on her right eye: a cloudy area with a white speck barely visible. Initially the condition did not seem to irritate her, and we really could not train a wild cheetah to take eye drops!  However, by late January 2013 the eye dramatically worsened, and the lesion progressed into a corneal ulcer. The eye began to tear excessively, and her nictitating membrane (a translucent third eyelid cheetahs have for moisture and protection) was raised, causing her to squint constantly --an indication of eye pain.

Amani thus began a series of anaesthesias. The first was to perform surgery -- suturing the nictitating membrane to the inside of the upper eyelid, thus forming a protective layer of tissue over the damaged cornea.  The surgery, performed by CCF’s veterinarian, Amelia Zakiewicz, went without complications.
Amani was anaesthesised three more times over the next couple months to assess her progress, with the sutures redone each time to allow healing to continue. By the end of February, it was clear that the surgery had not worked. The ulcer was healing too slowly.  We did a new procedure, called a conjunctival flap surgery. This two-hour long surgery involved suturing the membrane lining inside of eyelids directly to the cornea. Another eyelid flap was performed to further protect the ulcer and sutures.

On 8 April Amani was again anaesthetised to assess the conjunctival flap surgery.  The ulcer had improved, but a prolapse had occurred -- the iris had migrated into the ulcer to plug the defect. We were not pleased with this prognosis but monitor how the condition and see how it developed. However, the situation continued to deteriorate and therefore, on 22 April, after further assessment, we decided to remove her right eye, thus reducing her discomfort.

After almost three months, Amani has adapted to seeing with one eye and is capable of focusing on fences, feeding bowls and even meat treats thrown in her general direction.  She is one of the best runners in her camp and is still chasing CCF’s feeding vehicle.  She does not miss a thing!  Amani is completely off all pain-related medications and now receives only a daily Omega-3 capsule. She recovered flawlessly from the surgery; however her eye has taken on the expected sunken appearance.  We all wish Amani well, and hope that the coming months will be less problematic for her.

A Garden for Cheetahs

In early February, the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) began building a diverse organic vegetable garden at its International Research and Education Centre outside of Otjiwarongo, Namibia. The main garden site is about 13 by 22 meters and features long straight beds in the style of farm scale vegetable production, as well as keyhole beds demonstrating home scale gardening with meandering pathways.

The garden as a blank slate.

 As part of a greater effort to engage in environmentally aware operations and wise resource use, CCF decided to produce fresh vegetables to feed people consuming food onsite daily. This includes more than 40 staff and volunteers, visitors to the Cheetah Café, and guests of Babson House luxury accommodation. A study from 2005 showed Namibia is importing 80% of its fruits and vegetables, mostly from South Africa. Importing so much produce entails transporting it across long distances, increasing use of fossil fuels and carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Localizing food production will not only help CCF reduce the environmental and social impacts of transporting food; it will also provide fresher, tastier, more nutritious meals and save money.

CCF Volunteer Jenna Brager and Staff gardener Petrus Johannes shaping beds after manure application.

Rising to the challenge of heavy clay-sand soil, we used every bit of aged manure from CCF’s farm and then made use of a by-product from our Bushblok production – wood dust. All these materials are mixed into parent soil to improve fertility and organic matter content. As beds are prepared for upcoming plantings, we are just beginning to integrate the first batches of finished compost we are currently producing from food scraps, which is an essential ingredient for any organic garden.

A bit of CCF’s seed library. All seeds were donated by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in the United States.

Since we began in February, our plantings include beans, beetroot, carrots, daikon radishes, peas, squash, lettuces, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, cilantro, chard, endive, mustard, rocket, spinach, radishes, okra, and sunflowers and other flowers to attract pollinators. We are in the midst of transplanting onions, leeks, artichokes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kohlrabi.

In less than four months since the garden’s inception, we are harvesting twice per week a diverse salad mix --radishes, peas, turnips, chard, mustard, a braising greens mix, cilantro, and flowers. By having this much diversity in a small space, we are able to use organic methods and keep the garden chemical-free. Biodiversity in a garden habitat invites beneficial insects to do the work of managing unwanted insects. The vegetables are therefore healthier for the environment, the growers, and the consumers. CCF thanks Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, an American company based in Missouri and distributing from California, for donating more than 60 varieties of heirloom vegetable seeds. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is preserving agricultural and culinary heritage by carrying the largest selection of seeds from the 19^th century.

CCF kids and Staff gardener Petrus Johannes start seeds for the garden.

Newly sprouted seeds – broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi.

On 3 April, CCF held a dedication event, naming this site the ‘Chewbaaka Memorial Garden’ in honour of CCF’s ambassador cheetah who passed away. With plans for water conservation practices and beekeeping in the works, CCF hopes to include the Chewbaaka Memorial Garden in farmer training programs in the future. During your next visit to CCF, ask to see what’s growing!

CCF’s Executive Director Dr. Laurie Marker, with some of her team, speaking at the dedication of “Chewbaaka Memorial Garden”

CCF Staff gardener Petrus Johannes with an abundant harvest.

Rainbow and Aurora

A blog about the newest resident non-releasable cheetahs at CCF, Rainbow and Aurora, courtesy of our Cheetah Keeper, Jenny Bartlett.

On the 8^th February 2013 CCF received a call from a farmer telling us they had a young cheetah cub that was extremely weak.  They had found her on the side of the road and she obviously had not eaten for a while as she was too weak to get up and run away. Luckily for the young cub, she was taken to the farm and given food and water before the farmer called CCF.

          

Naturally CCF rushed to the aid of the cub and arrived a few hours later. She was extremely thin so it did not take much to place her into a crate to transport her back to CCF. After thanking the farmer for calling and talking about how he can further help the wild cheetahs, the CCF staff were back on the road heading back to CCF where they could do a better check of the cub and give her more food.

Although weak, the young female was inquisitive and watched out the window as we drove.  About twenty minutes before reaching the CCF centre, three rainbows appeared overhead which looked beautiful and peaceful; it was decided she would be named Rainbow.

                     

After arriving at the centre, Rainbow needed constant care and attention.  Naturally in the wild, cheetah cubs would not be on their own at such a young age of roughly 3-4 months; they would always be with their mother or at least siblings, so the CCF staff had to be with her constantly for the initial few days.

Each day she would be fed small portions, which could be up to 8 meals a day.  As she was starved it was crucial to not overfeed her, but at the same time ensure she got enough food, as well as vitamins and minerals she desperately needed. Over the first few weeks Rainbow quickly put on weight and her fur and skin condition improved.

                 

Now that her general health was not in danger it was important that we now focused on her mental health as most young cubs coming in from such a traumatic start normally become very depressed.  The staff at CCF came up with a variety of play items that she could play with from balls to toys tied on the end of string.  This way CCF staff could move around and trigger her chase response.

Because cheetahs run at such top speeds while hunting, it is imperative that they learn how to chase and catch from a young age, which in the wild would be something they learned from watching their mother. It was not long before Rainbow started chasing the toys and seemingly enjoying it.   Playing did seem to tire her out quite quickly, but this was to be expected as she didn’t have as much energy as she should have for a cub at her age.

Sadly, there was one thing that CCF staff could not replace: contact between two cheetahs, which is why it was very mixed emotions when CCF received another call from a different farmer saying he had a young cheetah cub and asking would we come and get it.

This little female cub was caught by the farmer. He kept her for roughly two weeks before calling CCF. Dr Laurie Marker went to collect the cub, but sadly for the young cub, now named Aurora, she had been taken away from her mother and siblings and had to be brought back to CCF.

Aurora was a bit feistier than Rainbow when she arrived and was not in too bad of overall condition.  She was bloated from being fed too much and had her claws cut really short, but the main thing was that she seemed very frightened. After spending a night in our quarantine pen, Aurora was anesthetized and given a full health check to make sure she was healthy, remove any parasites, and give her relevant vaccinations without stressing her out. The next morning we decided it was time to introduce her to Rainbow, as the sooner the two cubs were together the better it would be for them.

The introduction could not have gone any better.  As soon as Rainbow heard Aurora chirp she went straight over to the fence line and chirped back.  At this time, Aurora almost came out of her crate, which she had not done since we received her two days earlier. Eventually both cats met up at the fence line dividing them and touched noses. We decided that we should open the gate and see how they did together, as the keeper moved towards the fence line, Aurora ran back to her crate, however this was not a problem for Rainbow as she strolled right in and sat down next to Aurora.  After a few minutes the staff witnessed Rainbow grooming Aurora and they have been together ever since

                      

Every day they are getting more confident and seem happy together.  They groom each other after every meal and are always curled up beside one another.  We are very sad that the two of them have had such a bad start, but at least now they can develop with one another.

         

"W" is for Warthog

Given their remarkable popularity with nearly all of our visitors, W could really only be for… Warthog!

There are two species of Warthog in Africa, and both are listed by the IUCN as being of "Least Concern."  The Desert Warthog is found in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, while the Common Warthog (the ones at CCF) are much more widespread, present in nearly 40 countries (including the three that are home to Desert Warthogs), from Senegal in the East, Eritrea in the NE, down to the northern regions of South Africa.

Although sometimes hunted for meat, or as a trophy, warthog populations are in no way threatened by man.  They are however very water-dependent and as a result are subject to local extinctions in drought conditions. 

Family groupings of warthogs can be very large, with one generation of offspring often involved in raising the next generation.  Here at CCF it is common to see 6-7 piglets following a single mum, with 2-3 sub-adults close by.  A camera trap at one of our busier waterholes typically takes over 1200 pictures every day featuring nothing but warthogs, and we can often count over 30 individuals in a single shot!

In addition to needing water to drink, warthogs are also commonly found wallowing in the mud at the edge of waterholes to cool down.  They are rarely preyed upon by smaller carnivores, such as cheetahs, since their tusks make a formidable weapon, and mothers protect their young extremely well. Leopards will sometimes make off with a piglet, but warthogs are really only seriously preyed upon by lions or spotted hyena. 

NAMPLACE

Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is one of the steering committee members of the Greater Waterberg Complex (GWC) and was selected at the end of 2012 by the Namibia Protected Landscape Conservation Areas Initiative (NAMPLACE) steering committee to implement a needs assessment survey for several conservancies and commercial farms within the Greater Waterberg Complex.  The GWC and NamPlace is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) through a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project.

The goal of NAMPLACE is to implement projects with neighbouring communities to National Parks that will benefit the community and  the environment and assist in the sustainable progression of the region. The purpose of the needs assessment survey within the GWC was to collect baseline information that will be used to make informed decisions about how to efficiently utilise the NAMPLACE funds. The survey will serve as a tool to evaluate community needs and determine what development initiatives are most imperative. The survey will also function as a benchmark to measure developmental progress within the GWC.

Under the leadership of Dr. Laurie Marker and CCF Chief Ecologist, Matti Nghikembua, a team of eight people spent 10 days in the conservancies interviewing nearly 300 community members within the four communal conservancies.  The interviewers, all members of the various conservancies, spent three days in each conservancy.  The conservancy members were very happy to share the needs of their communities.

One of the communities surveyed by Matti and his team

After completing the surveying, CCF staff and interns spent the next three weeks entering the data and analyzing the results, and subsequently created a needs assessment report summarizing their findings. The primary needs of the conservancies as related to the survey teams, were more education particularly with respect to livestock and wildlife management, electricity and accessibility to healthcare, including the needs for better transport and better roads.  The Namplace funding will be used for laying solid foundations for this subsistence community so that an integrated system of wildlife will be intertwined with their livestock so that livelihoods can be diversified and include wildlife viewing and tourism ventures that complement their rich cultural heritage.  Due to CCF’s efforts, a solid plan is coming together and will help the communities within the conservancies over the next four years.

Left, Adam Pearlman is a Peace Corps volunteer working on developing business plans is based at CCF , Matti Nghikembua (middle), CCF Master’s Degree Intern , Sanju conducted surveys and helped analysis the data and write up the report. 

Gobabis to Otjiwarongo: The Translocation of Four Females

On 7 November 2012, Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) staff was called to pick up five cheetahs that were caught inside traps set out by a farmer in the Gobabis region of Namibia (~ 6 hour drive from CCF headquarters).    Before the CCF team arrived, they were informed that one of the cheetahs, a young female, died under unknown circumstances.   The farmer led the team through a maze of gravel and dirt roads, and finally arrived to the site of the captured cheetahs.  A chicken coop, a water trough, a metal trap-cage and a group of four highly stressed female cheetahs were what we found.  After assessing the situation, we decided to capture the cheetahs into wooden boxes in order to transport them back to CCF.

Considering the heat of the day and the stress level of the cheetahs, the team worked as quickly as possible, eventually moving all 4 cats, one at a time, into the trap cage and then to the the transfer crate.  The long journey home was not the end of the day.  Around 21:00, CCF staff were still working up two of the females.  One was an older female (3-5 years old)  and the other was an older cub (~18 months).  The two cats appeared to be in decent health.  The following day, the other two females were worked up.  One was a cub, which was in good health, the other was an adult female, whose condition was not as fortunate.  This female had old injuries on and in between her paws and pads.  Due to the degenerative state of her paws, Otjiwarongo veterinarian, Axel, assisted in the amputation of one of her toes, which had been severely broken.  After the procedure, the cheetah recovered normally in a safe, cemented quarantine pen, to prevent her from moving too much and possibly worsening the wounds on her feet.

The amputee female, who was given the name “Toeless,” was scheduled on 15 November to go to the dentist to have two root canals performed on her canines as well as an incisor removal  She was taken to Otjiwarongo, and the procedures were carried out by human dentist and loyal friend, Dr. Profitt.  Under anaesthetic  the condition of her paws was assessed, and although they were getting much better, she still needed more time to heal.

Three weeks later, “Toeless” was anaesthetised gain, but this time Dr. Profitt came to CCF to perform another root canal.  Also during this time her pads were checked again and they were looking much better!  She was fitted with a satellite collar and the bonding process between her and her previous chicken coop mates began.  The four females were all in one pen the following day, and all went well.  “Toeless” seemed anxious to have a large pen that she could move around in, so she ran up and down the fence line, while the “Mom” and two cubs hid in the grasses and watched.  There was very little interaction between the females as a whole.

The next day, on 8 December 2012, CCF staff captured “Mom,” the other adult female, who may or may not be the mother of the two older, near independent cubs.  She was anesthetised and also placed with a GPS/VHF combination collar.  After a speedy recovery all four females were once again reunited.  We kept the foursome together for another week and tried to bond them by having them share several warthog carcasses.  The two adult females showed promising wild behaviours as they quickly opened up the carcass, which can be a very difficult feat for the inexperienced.  The two cubs were more hesitant and usually waited to feed after the carcass was already opened.

Finally, on 15 December, the four females were once again captured in transport crates and taken on a 45 minute drive to CCF’s soft-release camp, Bellebenno.  This 4,000ha (nearly 10,000 acre) game camp is filled with premium game for these cats to feed on.  Oryx, eland, kudu, red hartebeest, steenbok, duiker and warthog are all on the menu, and this time of the year is calving season.  We decided on this location as it would give the females the best chance at survival, especially if they all split up.

A warthog carcass was placed in the centre of the four crates that temporarily held the cheetahs.  The release was in place.  The crate doors were lifted and out ran the four females, in four separate directions, without even a glance at the free warthog.  The CCF team quickly departed as to not interfere anymore with their behaviour.

In the following days, the two adult females’ satellite collars fed CCF staff information on their whereabouts.  They remained separate from one another and “Mom” went onto our neighbours property after the first day of release.  The second day, “Toeless” also left Bellebenno, but returned on day threee.  The two cubs' locations are unknown as they were not fitted with satellite collars.  Hopefully, several of CCF’s camera traps and ground tracking team will be able to observe the cats in the future, to assess their condition.

All releases are complicated and must be carefully thought out, since each cheetah is different. As these four females were all wild prior to being captured, and are deemed to be healthy, our expectations on their ability to survive are high. With this, we are happy to know that four more cheetahs are back where they belong –in the wild.   The survival of the species depends on it.  

Ryan Marcel Sucaet
Assistant Cheetah Keeper & Research Assistant
sucaetry@gmail.com

Xena and Luna: Week 2

30 January 2012 - Day 9

Warthogs (archive photo) - (c) CCF

After finding Xena in the morning, we observed as she walked past a warthog den. Suddenly three sub-adult warthogs exploded out of their den, scaring Xena in the process. She jolted backwards and then ran away from the pigs. She began walking away and another warthog unexpectedly ran past her. She slapped at the ground and hissed in her nervous yet defensive state. Luna slept the majority of the day. In the evening we searched for the girls for an hour with no signal on our receiver. Then I nearly got stuck in the road (due to the mud) followed by an extremely flat tire, and finally the storm. The girls were unfortunately not found.

31 January 2012 - Day 10

It was a long morning of searching for the girls. When we found Xena she was nearly 4km from where we last saw her yesterday morning and Luna was also in a new, very dense bushed, area. In the evening we found Xena’s spoor on the road. From looking at her tracks, which were deep in the sand and nearly a meter apart with the claw marks were heavily visible, we determined that she was sprinting. There were warthog piglet tracks everywhere as well. When we found her, she was nearly sleeping under a bush, without a kill. Afterwards we found Luna and next to her WAS a kill! Kill #3 (observed): an adult female duiker (small antelope). On our arrival, the duiker was still untouched. After five minutes of observation, Luna began licking the hair on the duiker intensely. She then opened the carcass and began to feed. It was amazing that she even allowed Rachel and me to watch! Throughout the feeding, she was extremely vigilant, looking around and picking her head up at any conspicuous sound. This is great behaviour to see from a solitary female, which has to be vigilant in order to guard her kill or flee due to other larger predators.

Duikers (archive photo) - (c) CCF

1 February 2012 - Day 11

We found Luna still at her carcass this morning. She looked miserably wet as it rained most of the morning. The duiker’s entire hindquarters were eaten and Luna had a massive belly. We later found Xena (after another storm) and she had moved 2km from yesterday. It appears she is following the perimeter of Bellebenno. If she continues this route she could possibly cross paths with Luna again. The rest of the day and evening was rainy and prevented Rachel and I from tracking the girls. Our campsite had nearly 55mL of rain in one day! Bellebenno is flooded.

2 February 2012 - Day 12

After helping Rachel up from her colossal plunge into a stagnant puddle, we found Luna still at her kill. She dragged the duiker carcass about 25m and all that remained were the head, skin and bones. In the afternoon/evening, Jimmy (CCF volunteer from Denmark) and I found Xena in the same general area as yesterday. I decided it was time to supplement feed her, as we had not seen her with a kill or engorged belly in several days. She took her 1kg of donkey meat (on a bone) and ran away from us. Luna was later found about 400m from her kill site and she was still resting and digesting her three-day meal. Tomorrow I predict both females will be on the move again, investigating new areas of Bellebenno.

Later Jimmy and I had the privilege of spotting an African Wild Cat as well as a Hammerkop bird in a puddle! We also saw spoor of a wild male cheetah near our captive females’ camp.

African Wild Cat - www.namibian.org

3 February 2012 - Day 13

In the evening Jimmy and I discovered Luna’s spoor all along Bellebenno’s eastern corner, along the fence line, approaching swing gates and even running. Around her tracks were those of oryx, warthog, jackal and even aardvark. When we found Luna she was laying beside her fourth kill, another warthog piglet. It was unopened so we left to find Xena. Five kilometres away we located her and she instantly charged us. I noticed some dry blood on her face as she approached. As we backed off, we stumbled upon a severely injured warthog piglet. It must have escaped from Xena and hid before Jimmy and I scared it. Xena was caught in a moment of choice between hunting down the escaping/hobbling piglet and keeping us away: she chose to hunt. She killed the piglet by severing its spinal column, biting the back of the piglet’s neck (usually the jaw of a cheetah is too weak to do this, but not in the case of piglets). She finished eating in nearly 42 minutes and then rested. At the end of the night we returned to Luna who was already walking down the road. She abandoned her carcass after eating only the shoulder, back and neck; the rest was left for the flies and scavengers. She then continued to a puddle where she drank on and off (extremely vigilantly) for nearly nine minutes before vanishing into the bush. Within two weeks, both cheetahs are already proving themselves quite capable of handling the wild.

4 February 2012 - Day 14

Today was the laziest day of observing cheetahs throughout the entirety of the three releases I have done. Every time we checked on them, they were sleeping. From 06:30-19:50 they remained in their same general areas (venturing no further than 30m), in the shade, and seemingly without concerns. They were about 6km apart each digesting their warthog kills.

5 February 2012 - Day 15

Erlend (CCF volunteer from Norway) and I found Xena and Luna early this morning in the same areas we left them last night. Luna remains in the eastern-most corner of Bellebenno, while Xena utilizes the southern-most. It may be safe to assume that both of them have found their preferred area of the 4,000-ha game camp. Xena has stopped following the perimeter and has been found near the entrance of the game camp. Luna, on the other hand, is closer to where all of the game animals (zebra, oryx and recently eland) gather to feed. These grazers have come to a previously burnt area of land, where fresh green pioneer grasses are located. Although both females have showed a very promising set of behavioural adaptations since their release, it will be interesting to see what other prey they can hunt. Warthog piglets will not be around forever and they will have to learn to hunt other species.

6 February 2012 - Day 16

In the afternoon Erlend and I were struck by a massive lightning storm as we were tracking Xena. Considering it is unsafe to track with a metal antenna in an open bushveld, we ran to the car and waited for the storm to pass. Afterwards we found Xena and she was guarding a kill! This marks her fourth kill and it was a juvenile duiker! The area where the kill was made seemed unpractical for a cheetah to hunt. The area was generally open, but the invasive yellow flowers were nearly 1.5m tall and very difficult to walk through. The kill must have been by ambush due to low visibility. Xena is headed more northeast away from the black entrance gates closer to Luna, who walked up and down the road several times today, but generally stayed in the same area sleeping throughout the day.

Cheers from the bush,

Ryan Marcel Sucaet
Head of Cheetah Reintroductions

Cheetah Update from Laurie

Hi! It's been so busy. Sorry we have been out of touch! Just this week...

One of our Kangal dogs (Firat) was gored by a warthog and had emergency surgery on Monday. We neutered all our puppies on Monday and Tuesday so they will be ready for placement with farmers this Saturday, when they participate in a Farmer’s Day and then take their puppies. We had a film crew here on Tuesday filming for Hostel Life. They managed to film everything in one day!

Firat's surgery.

Today we took Klein to the dentist, and have been taking care of three new sheep born in the last three days. And last night we ran the four OK cubs out in the field, at the corner area where we ran Chewbaaka for 14 years...it was exciting to see them all running together with the Waterberg Plateau in the background. Our big team of interns and volunteers (and our small staff) enjoyed watching.

CCF's interns, volunteers and staff at the Big Field with the OK cubs.

Never a dull moment.

For those who haven't heard yet, we made our 2011 year-end match! We could not have done it without the incredible support and commitment from many of you to save the wild cheetah from extinction.

Thanks,

Laurie

Update from Dr. Laurie Marker

Hello! We are having intermittent email reception due to satellite issues, but thought I’d send a quick update on what’s going on here at CCF.

Our international course has been here for a week – and all the participants are great! They come from Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Benin and Brazil. CCF’s 2010 Cheetah Conservationist of the Year Award recipient, John Kasaona, was here to talk to the course participants and did a fantastic job. John is Chairman of the Namibian Association of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Support Organisations (NACSO).

Incidentally, John will be in the US as a speaker at the Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa (APTA)’s events: Focus on Africa and Discover Africa, which will be held in Denver, Seattle, Phoenix and Los Angeles starting the 8 March. For information please visit the APTA web site. These events will provide a wonderful opportunity to meet trade representatives from Africa.

We have a new vet, Anna Haw, and she’s great. Saturday was her first day working on cheetahs when we worked up on three males with the help of the international course people. The males, Chuck, Geno and Crosby, have been here for about a year and were recently moved to the Scar males’ enclosure. All six of these male cheetahs will be moving to Naua Naua – a lodge near Etosha, where we have had four other cheetahs over the years. One of those cats has a bad molar and we need to take him to the dentist; it will be either a root canal or an extraction.

Yesterday we fitted a collar on the wild female cheetah that arrived here at the end of October. Remember? She had had some dental work done. We had been waiting for a satellite collar which after two months finally arrived from New Zealand – it apparently was lost en route for a month so they finally sent another one. She and her two sons, along with two other female cheetahs, have been living together for the past month to get used to each other so they can all be released together. We hope will stay together as a family.

Isha, our scat detection dog killed a spitting cobra a few days ago. She scared us all badly as we originally thought that it was a mamba, which would have meant certain death, but fortunately she is OK. It is interesting that she has gone through snake avoidance training, and yet I think her guarding bloodlines are just so very strong.

At CCF’s teaching farm, all our goats and sheep are having their kids and lambs. Yesterday morning we had two lambs. We now have ~ 28 goat kids and ~ 8 lambs with more to come. Timing births of livestock is an important element of avoiding conflict with predators.

Rains have continued. Sunday we had what we call a “dam-filling rain,” with about 40 mm in just about 30 minutes. Heavy rains have caused a few problems on our thatch roofs, so some will need to be repaired or replaced. For those of you who have been here, The Hot Spot, our common dining area, had roof damage and we had to put a tarp over it. However, with heavy winds, the tarp blew off! That roof will have to be replaced. With the rains we have also welcomed our first group of volunteers this year: five from Earthwatch and four private volunteers. We also have a film crew from Wildlife SOS in the UK, so there is plenty going on here!

Finally, all the cheetah cubs are growing like weeds.

All the best,
Laurie

CCF's Breeding Dogs Update

It’s the rainy season in Namibia and CCF's new puppies are growing nearly as fast as the weeds! Aleya, the eldest of the four, is now more legs than dog and promises to become an elegant Kangal when she grows into those legs! Chino (photo - left) is an exceptionally affectionate little Anatolian who greets us with enthusiasm every morning and patiently endures being checked for ticks. Our French duo, Firat and Feliz (below), have quickly become part of the dog/livestock family. This is especially true for young Firat who never wants to leave his herd and howls when separated from them. These four young dogs represent a bright future for CCF's Livestock Guarding Dog programme, so their excellent progress as working dogs is especially encouraging. This coming year, we will continue to breed our adult dogs and hope to produce four litters: two from our Anatolian females, Uschi and Penda, and litters for the first time from our two Kangals, Cazgir and Hediye.

Feliz

Gail and Carolyn
Livestock Guarding Dog Programme

CCF's Cheetah Reintroduction Research Update

CLICK HERE to see our photo album of the release on CCF's official Facebook page.

After loading up Chanel, Nestle, Hershey and Toblerone at CCF on January 6, we began our journey to the Erindi private game reserve in the southern region of Namibia. We had previously released this group of four female cheetahs on the Bellebenno property here on CCF as part of our re-introduction research, and after nearly four months on their own, we recaptured them and began preparations for the move to a bigger and better home.

We started packing up the cats around 2pm, and just before 6pm we put the group into a boma (a 5 hectare holding pen) at Erindi. We returned in the morning to check on them, and around noon we released the cats onto the 70,000-hectare reserve. Kate, Matt and James put meat in the back of a truck and called the cats out, and though they were weary of their surroundings, all four of them made their way out of the pen and followed the CCF crew out into the bush.

While Chanel finished her meal, Toblerone, Hersey and Nestle went off on their own, and for about half an hour all four cheetahs chirped and called out at each other. The Chocolates eventually crossed one of the park's many dirt paths to find Chanel, and just a few minutes later all four of the cats made their way back over the same path and went into the park. Chanel gave us a long look as she crossed the road, and it was a very special way to end a very special day for all of us here at CCF and the staff at Erindi.

CCF's Tracker James is staying behind to help the cats adjust to their new home, and he will be working with the rangers at Erindi to make sure the transition goes smoothly for everyone. As of Saturday January 8, the cats have moved around their release area and they attempted to hunt a duiker, and they have also been stalking some oryx on the reserve.

Stay tune for a great video we are preparing!

Laurie

Images courtesy of CCF's volunteer Elisabeth Brentano