Cheetahs released on Kapama
It started 20 years ago as a research and breeding centre for the endangered cheetah and King cheetah, but now is a lifeline for a myriad of endangered species such as Southern Ground Hornbills, African wild dogs, smaller endangered cat species and many more species in dire need of protection. One can truly be thankful for people so dedicated and enthusiastic in saving and protecting our wildlife, like Mrs. Lente Roode and her team.
One of the cheetahs released yesterday was brought from Blaauwbosch, and was obviously not as used to human interaction as the one from the centre which was released with him, this made him a very suitable candidate for release as he will most probably avoid humans and hopefully stays out of trouble. The other was born and bred in the very successful breeding project and was at first not so keen to take advantage of his new found freedom. After a couple of minutes, walking around the spectators (all of which froze in anticipation) he lost interest and walked away as we got onto the vehicles. All in all a very exiting and successful release and Kapama is equally proud to have these magnificent creatures roaming freely on our reserve again.
These two cheetahs will be monitored for a wile to make sure they adapt well to their new environment after which they will hopefully become completely independent and enjoy a long and happy “wild” life on Kapama Game Reserve.
Once again thank you to all the sponsors and people who made this possible, especially the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre and all their personnel, we hope you may have just as much success for the next twenty years.
Johan Esterhuizen
Warden – Kapama Game Reserve
