Experience good for India = Dissertation - Spoor density, movement and rehabilitation of cheetahs in Botswana (Southern Africa) By AnnMarie Houser 2008

[Guest guest]

Experience good for India = Dissertation - Spoor density, movement and

rehabilitation of cheetahs in Botswana (Southern Africa) By AnnMarie Houser 2008

 

With India planning to reintroduce the Cheetah by importing some from Africa,

the following and similarly well documented experiences from Africa maybe very

useful, to Indians as well as to other African countries; also any credible

research on Captive breeding and release of captive Cheetahs and their

subsequent behavior in the wild.

 

The study below also includes a report on taking three orphaned cheetahs

Acinonyx jubatus at 8 and 12 weeks of age, bonding them as a sibling group and

rehabilitating them to become self sufficient, before their eventual release

onto a game farmland where they successfully lernt to hunt and subsist on their

own.

 

I have attached a copy of the pdf with this mail for the archive in case in

future it is not available from the original source online.

 

Atul Singh Nischal

ASIATIC LION GROUP

http://pets.Asiatic_Lions/

 

 

Dissertation -

Spoor density, movement and rehabilitation of

cheetahs in Botswana (Southern Africa)

By

AnnMarie Houser

 

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

Magister Scientiae in Wildlife Management

 

 

Centre for Wildlife Management

Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

University of Pretoria

Pretoria

 

Supervisor: Dr M.J. Somers

 

November 2008

 

© University of Pretoria

 

 

POSTED ONLINE AT:

 

 

[PDF]

 

Spoor density, movement and rehabilitation of cheetahs in BotswanaFile Format:

PDF/Adobe Acrobat

by AM Houser - 2009 - Related articles

Recent studies have shown cheetahs to be more adaptable to vegetation and prey

....... sightings throughout one cat's home range (Marker et al., 2007). This may

add to the ...... The deer and the tiger: A study of wildlife in India: 370. ...

upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08072009-112713/.../dissertation.pdf -

 

http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08072009-112713/unrestricted/disserta\

tion.pdf

 

 

Above includes....

 

 

CHAPTER 4

 

The Rehabilitation and Release of Three Captive Cheetah Cubs on a

Game Farm in Tuli, Botswana

 

Abstract

 

The rehabilitation and reintroduction of orphaned or captive animals, primarily

endangered species is becoming an important management tool. However, methods,

costs

and outcomes are often poorly documented. This study took three orphaned

cheetahs

Acinonyx jubatus at 8 and 12 weeks of age, bonded them as a sibling group and

rehabilitated them to become self sufficient, before eventual release onto a

game

farmland.

 

Detailed observations of their hunting and behaviour development were taken at

1.5 years of age. They were released at 2 years old onto a 9000 ha game farm

where they

were monitored using cell/GPS collars, and observed weekly. Home ranges were

from

44- 121 km2, the cheetahs were hunting successfully and exhibited behaviours

similar to

wild cheetahs. They travelled primarily between 04:00- 11:00, and 18:00- 00:00,

and their

mean daily travel ranged from 4.49- 9.4 km/day.

 

The cheetahs left the farm at 2.5 years old and were subsequently killed. Both

females crossed into South Africa, where one was killed by illegal hunting, the

other by a

drive by shooting. The male was killed by the Botswana wildlife department,

after

mistaking him for a leopard. Although the rehabilitation of self sustaining

animals was

accomplished, they all died due to the same realities wild cheetahs encounter

everyday.

While rehabilitation may be achieved in a timely and cost effective manner,

alone it will

not secure the fate of orphaned wildlife, without the education of farmers and

government

agencies to the plight of predators and other management options. This is a

viable

alternative for orphaned cheetahs with continued monitoring and publishing of

results of

future trials.

 

....... Detailed chapter included in above dissertation.

 

 

Also see:

 

Cheetah Conservation Botswana

CHEETAH CONSERVATION BOTSWANA aims to

preserve the nation's cheetah population through scientific research,

community outreach and education, working with rural communities to

promote coexistence with Botswana's rich diversity of predator species.

http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/index.php

http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/project.php

Cheetah tracking - Plotting the movements of a cheetah by cellular collar

http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/tracking.php

Latest news

http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/news.php

Earlier news

http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/news_old.php

At WAZA website - World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

http://www.waza.org/en/site/conservation/waza-projects/project-overview/cheetah-\

conservation-botswana

Botswana Tourism Board - Cheetah

http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/flora_n_fauna/cheetah.html

At Houston Zoo website

http://www.houstonzoo.org/cheetah-conservation-botswana/

At Predator Conservation Trust website

http://www.predatorconservation.com/cheetah_conservation_botswana.htm

At Wildlife Conservation Network website

http://wildlifeconservationnetwork.org/wildlife/cheetahbotswana.html

 

 

 

 

BotswanaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana

CheetahFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah

 

Asiatic CheetahFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah

 

Cheetah Reintroduction in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah_Reintroduction_in_India

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I would also suggest reading 'The Spotted Sphinx' and 'Friends from the

Forest by Joy Adamson. The second book is not about big cats but in my

opinion it is JoyAdamson's best tome. Her philosophy concerning Elsa the

lioness and Pippa the Cheetah is outlined in the introduction thus :

" …I had traveled across Africa, Asia, the United States, Canada,

Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan speaking to people on behalf

of endangered wildlife. I had received many high awards. Now I

wondered how all this could have happened for I felt I had changed

very little since the summer days at Seifenmuhle when we children

played at lion hunts. My ideas are the same as they have always been.

For instance I believe today as I did then that God is in every ray of

sunshine, in the song of every bird, in the rustle of the wind; and

the flicker of the setting sun, turning the country into gold, means

more to me than any candle in a cathedral, and I still have no need to

dress up to meet God on Sunday in a church for I can talk to Him at

any moment, as to my closest friend. "

Regards and warm wishes,

 

Joy Adamson, known for her epic of ELSA, the Kenya lioness, has a new and

fascinating animal story to tell. This time it is centred on Pippa, a

cheetah given to her by a family who were leaving Kenya and wanted to find a

good home for their pet. Mrs. Adamson determined to restore this great cat

to its natural wild heritage, but the problem presented many difficulties,

for hitherto no domesticated cheetah had ever consented to return to the

bush.

 

To her self-imposed task, Pippa's new friend brought immense patience,

under-standing and endurance. Gradually the cheetah began to absent herself

from camp, first for short and later for long periods, though she continued

to call in at intervals to get food when she had not made a kill. When she

did so she was always affectionate. Eventually she mated with a wild

cheetah. The experiment had succeeded; Pippa had become independent; but

this did not lead to a break in her relationship with Mrs. Adamson and when

the first litter was born she led her to her cubs.

 

The life of a wild animal is harsh; of the first three litters - eleven cubs

- all but three died and one of the survivors owed its life to the medical

care which was provided for it after it injured a leg.

 

But no less harsh is the life of someone dedicated to keeping in touch over

several years with a family of wild cheetah. Against a background of

terrifying floods, an alarming bush fire and the menace of bandits, Joy

Adamson kept contact by making daily long treks, often in the hot hours,

always burdened with heavy loads, through bush in which a herd of elephant

might stampede at any moment, or the round ears of a lion appear above the

grass.

 

In addition, she had many conscience problems to resolve: at what point

should she intervene to help the cheetah if they were sick or hungry. Could

she do this without interfering with their adjustment to wild life? The

story of the three years during which she watched the development of Pippa

and her young is as thrilling and as scientifically observed as her account

of her relationship with Elsa. Moreover, Mrs. Adamson is now in a unique

position to describe the contrast in character between the elegant,

affectionate but enigmatic cheetah - the spotted sphinx - and that of the

magnificent Elsa.

 

The author's photographic coverage of this story is complete and

extraordinarily beautiful. We have reproduced twelve pages of colour plates

and sixty-four pages of black and white prints.

 

Extract

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

I take charge of Pippa

 

IN September, 1964, I was asked by a friend to adopt an eight months old

female cheetah cub owned by a family who were moving to England I and wanted

their pet to remain in Kenya. At this time I was camping on location with

Columbia Pictures at the foot of Mt. Kenya where the company was making the

film version of *Born Free. *Since my position at the film unit excluded any

handling of the lions, I was free to have a pet and accepted the offer with

joy.

 

Although cheetah are the easiest of all wild cats to tame, little is known

about their habits when in the wild. They are unique in that they combine

characteristics of the dog as well as of the cat and although they are

classed as cats, they do not really fit into any category with other

animals. They are the fastest mammals in the world over a short distance,

and have been timed to run at sixty miles an hour and more. (The limit of a

racehorse is forty miles an hour.) The cheetah is built for speed with light

bones, a small head, a minute chin and long, slender legs. Like a dog, it

cannot retract its claws; it sits in dog-like fashion and hunts like a

canine; however, its pug-marks are characteristic of a cat, as well as its

use of the dew-claw and its, possibly acquired, ability to climb trees. Its

sandy-coloured coat is sleek like that of a short-haired dog while its black

spots are fluffy like a cat's fur.

 

Cheetah are solitary animals inhabiting open plains and are seldom seen in

company except when mating or with young. The cubs, usually numbering up to

four, are born after a gestation period of ninety to ninety-three days, with

a long, fluffy mane and greyish coat which covers the upper half of the body

from head to tail and is in strong contrast to the dark-coloured,

short-haired, spotted coat which covers the lower part of the body. For the

first two or three months of their life the cubs look almost like

silver-backed jackals with a fancy spotted undercarriage. Then their coat

becomes sand-coloured, spotted all over and the ruff remains only along the

top of their neck and shoulders.

 

The name cheetah originated in India and means 'the spotted one'. Its

history is intriguing, for we find cheetah used as emblems on the reliefs

and friezes of the ancient Egyptians, where they exemplify courage; there

are only two records of a cheetah becoming a royal pet - these belonged to

Genghis Khan and Charlemagne. Until recently Indian princes used to hunt

with cheetahs trained to run down game but since 1930 there has been no

record of a cheetah living wild in India; the species now survives only in

Africa. During a recent census it was found that the cheetah still stands

his ground in certain parts of East Africa but will survive only if

protected.

 

The cheetah female cub offered to me had been found abandoned in Wajir, a

desert region of the Northern Frontier District of Kenya. The Major of a

regiment stationed in the area took the tiny orphan and reared her with his

children at his home near Nairobi. Soon the cub began to accompany the

family on their shopping visits to the city and became a popular guest in

the dining rooms of several Nairobi restaurants.

 

Major and Mrs Dunkey asked me to meet them on the 17th of October 1964, at

the New Stanley Hotel. When I saw a couple drinking tea in the company of a

cheetah cub who squatted pertly on a chair opposite them, with its golden

eyes watching everything that went on intently, I needed no introduction.

 

I fell in love with the cat at first sight, but kept to an old rule of mine

when meeting children and animals and waited for the cub to take the

initiative. Giving her time to make up her mind about me, I chatted with the

Dunkeys, trying to learn all I could about her habits. I was told that

Kitten, as they called her, loved children and played hide and seek with

them between the rose bushes in the garden but that she was inclined to

chase strangers and dogs. I also learned that Kitten slept on Mrs Dunkey's

bed and that when she had her morning tea the cat drank milk out of a dish.

Unfortunately she had the habit of wetting the bed so I was promised a

plastic sheet as protection. I was told that Kitten adored a rabbit doll

made of plush which might be useful in diverting her attention should she do

something she was not supposed to do. Finally I was advised that if she went

on strike and wouldn't budge, I was to lift her by her tail and scruff a

proceeding to which she had become quite used. She ate three pounds of raw

meat a day and drank a lot of milk to which four drops of Abidec (vitamins)

were to be added; as an occasional treat I was to give her a mousebird.

 

While we talked, Kitten scrutinized me, her eyes half closed under her heavy

brows, then she came over to me, purred loudly and licked my face. While I

stroked her soft fur I felt her body vibrating like an engine, breathing in

and out she gave the famous cheetah purr, finally she nibbled at my ear.

That, I was assured, was a sign of great affection. We now all felt

relieved, knowing that I was accepted and that we would soon be good

friends.

 

The Dunkeys told me that they had been offered up to £400 for their pet by

people who wanted to take her to England or America. Though they were not

rich they declined these offers, preferring to find a home for Kitten in

Kenya where she could live in as much freedom as possible. Knowing of my

love for animals and of our relationship with Elsa, they hoped I would adopt

Kitten and give her a happy life. I was deeply touched by their trust and

the precious gift of their much loved pet and promised that I would do all

within my power to fulfil their hopes.

 

It was at this moment that the plan of rehabilitating Kitten to the wild

life she had been born to came into my mind, but as I did not know if this

would be possible I did not mention it to the Dunkeys. In fact, I said that

I would be obliged, while living with the film unit, to confine her because

of all the lions in the camp and would only be able to free her when taking

her out for exercise to the neighbouring plains. This was agreed.

 

A few days later the Dunkeys brought Kitten to the film location at Naro

Moru, a hundred and twenty miles north of Nairobi. This was where the film

of *Born Free** *was being shot and where I was staying at the time. I had

prepared a large wire enclosure adjoining my two tents. I had built it round

a tree amongst whose branches we had erected a wooden platform to satisfy a

cheetah's climbing instinct. We also, as substitute for rocks, placed a few

wooden benches in the compound. To make Kitten comfortable during the night

I had a big wooden crate built, with a sliding door made of wire on the side

facing the inside of my tent. Another door opened on to the compound; like

this she could keep in touch with me should she feel lonely.

 

I thought that the change of fosterparents would be the right moment for

altering her bed-sleeping habit and so I padded the sleeping crate with her

familiar blankets, cushion and the toys the Dunkeys had brought and I placed

my bed along the wired side of the crate, thus being within the cub's reach

during the night.

 

I als9 asked the Dunkeys if I might change her name from Kitten to Pippa

which was phonetically similar and easier to pronounce when calling her over

long distances, and this too was agreed.

 

I realize, in retrospect, that most of the names I had given my previous

pets started with a P: Pippin, Pati, Pampo, etc. If they got lost an

explosive consonant carried more easily across a distance.

 

Poor Pippa, how much she would now have to learn.

 

When all had been arranged I suggested we should have lunch. Having seen

Pippa quite at ease in the Stanley Hotel lounge, amongst a crowd of people,

I took it as a matter of course that she should join us and I expected to

introduce her to the film unit who knew of her arrival. But when we reached

the farm house at the far end of the film location, we saw people leaving

the dining hall and walking across the lawn to their rooms and as soon as

Pippa hopped out of the car there was a rush. By the slamming and banging of

doors I realized that the cheetah's arrival was causing some alarm among the

personnel of the unit and I felt rather embarrassed by this welcome, but

Pippa walked into the dining room unconcerned by all the dash for safety,

sat in a ladylike fashion at our table and behaved with perfect manners

throughout our meal. Indeed she appeared to be so intrigued by her new

environment that she did not want to go away and Major Dunkey had finally to

demonstrate the 'tail and scruff' lifting operation and carry her into the

car. Later, the Dunkeys returned to Nairobi. I admired their self-control

and the way in which they parted with their friend, Kitten, knowing what it

must have meant for both of them.

 

Now, Pippa was my responsibility.

 

Back at the Simba Camp she aroused great interest amongst the lions who were

playing parts in the film; of these there were a considerable number since

it was impossible to know in advance which could be trained to recreate the

various incidents of Elsa's life. Pippa's nearest neighbours, two old

lionesses, paced up and down inside their enclosure to get the best view of

the strange, spotted creature. The various compounds were separated not only

by great distances and had trees between them, but some also had screens to

prevent the animals from seeing each other; it was hoped that this would

pacify them. But I wondered how these precautions could prevent the lions

from hearing and scenting each other, particularly as after dark their roars

often shook the stillness of the night. Although I found this chorus, which

built up to awe-inspiring crescendos and ebbed away to synchronized

whuffings, fascinating, poor Pippa was terrified. Tense with fear, she

stared in the direction of the sounds. Although I sat close to her, talking

calmly and stroking her, it took the best part of the night before she

relaxed and settled down.

 

Lions and cheetahs do not get on well when living wild, so Pippa's reaction

was understandable.

 

It was therefore a great relief that, on the following day, part of the film

unit, and I too, were leaving for the coast to film the scenes in which Elsa

is supposed to play with her human fosterparents in the ocean. Not being

sure if the film lions would enter the sea, it was decided to take two

lionesses, Girl and Mara, to the coast in the hope that one might oblige.

The camp for the filming of these scenes had already been prepared and while

the majority of the unit flew to the coast the animals travelled to Malindi

in a convoy of five cars by road.

 

Pippa was used to cars and quickly settled on the front seat between my

servant, Muguru, and myse1£ She took a great interest in everything she

could see along the way; certainly she was happy for she often rubbed her

silky head affectionately against mine or licked my face. We broke the long

journey - 540 miles at Mtito Ndei, which is half-way, and spent the night at

the hotel. It was easy to get permission for Pippa to walk around the

grounds, join us for dinner, to the delight of the other guests, and share

my room. The poor lions were less fortunate and had to be confined inside

the cars. We parked them out side our bungalows so that we could give the

animals moral support and throughout the night often visited them but they

never stopped restlessly pacing around. At dawn we continued our safari.

Hoping to shorten the journey and reduce their discomfort to the minimum we

took a short cut through the National Park at Voi but unfortunately lost our

way amongst the many tracks and arrived, very much later than we expected,

at our destination. Then, at last, the exhausted lions were able to relax in

their compounds which were at the film camp, built along the Blue Lagoon. I

drove on another five miles to the open sea where a bungalow had been rented

for Pippa and myself.

 

The film camp was fenced in by wire which extended far into the sea at

either side. This was done less to confine the animals than to keep the

local people away for they, who had never before seen a lion, swarmed around

the place. Pippa aroused an equal interest, not only among people but also

among dogs. The news of her arrival must have spread like bush-fire and,

worse than any bitch in heat, she was soon besieged by every dog in the

vicinity. Luckily for her, the owner of the place agreed to attach a wire

enclosure to the bungalow to give her some space to walk about in without

being molested by the dogs.

 

While this was being erected, I took her to the beach together with Muguru

but unfortunately I had to keep her on a 60 ft. long nylon line. I was

curious as to how she would respond to the sea as I had never heard of a

cheetah swimming and, in fact, Pippa did not seem to like sea bathing for,

after a few attempts to wet her paws when trying to follow me into the

ocean, she decided to wait on the beach with Muguru until I returned from my

swim. Meanwhile her curiosity was aroused by all the busy crabs around her;

she was very surprised to see them disappear into holes just at the moment

she was about to pounce on them. Perplexed, she looked at me, then suddenly

decided to have a full-speed run along the beach. That was all right for her

but not much fun for me, for I had to keep up with her by hanging on to the

nylon line.

 

Luckily, our race was stopped by a large coral rock which, at low tide,

stood isolated on the beach. Pippa investigated it, first, sniffing around

its base, then climbing swiftly to its top regardless of the sharp surface

of the coral. She looked superb as she stood silhouetted against the sky,

gazing at the ocean. Indeed, she seemed as much impressed by the vastness of

the scene as I was. Then suddenly she squatted, delivered her droppings and

quickly jumped off the rock while I tried to disentangle the nylon line

before it was cut to threads by the sharp-edged coral.

 

While I was still engaged in doing this, Pippa, rolling in the sand and

clasping a rotten coconut, started a new game. Covered with wet sand, she

looked so comical that I laughed aloud. This seemed to hurt her feelings;

unexpectedly she pushed her legs with such force against me that I

somersaulted backwards and when I got up was so bedraggled that I felt

properly put in my place. I had barely time to scramble to my feet when she

raced off and I had to run after her at what seemed to me not sixty, but a

hundred miles an hour. It would have been great fun but for the ghastly

nylon line. This had been given to me by the Dunkeys who had used it on a

previous holiday when they had taken Pippa to the coast. They had advised me

not to let her loose because she might chase people walking on the beach and

because of the thick belt of vegetation which grew along the shore in which

she might get lost. The precaution was already justified so far as the local

fishermen were concerned, for however often I assured them that Pippa was a

harmless pet, at her sight they bolted, thus inviting her to chase them.

 

Next day we visited the film camp. To everyone's delight, Girl and Mara had

taken to the sea as if they had been born to it, and the difficulty was not

how to induce them to enter the water, but to get them out of it. In spite

of all the fun, poor Girl was so distressed at being separated from her

brother, Boy, (another star of the animal cast) that it was decided to

arrange for him to join her. While he was on his way, Mara and Girl rested

in their compounds.

 

This gave all of us an opportunity to take a swim. For some time Pippa

watched us splashing in the water then suddenly she joined us, her mouth

tightly closed. Soon she got out of her depth, but paddling frantically she

swam after me. I felt very proud that she should have done so just to keep

close to me and I thought that by swimming in the ocean she had probably set

a precedent in cheetah habits.

 

Next morning, while walking with Pippa and Muguru along the beach, I left

her for a short time in charge of the boy. On my return, he showed me her

empty harness dangling from the nylon line: she had slipped out of it in her

attempt to follow me. We were about a mile from home and I was alarmed as it

was impossible to trace her spoor in the dense vegetation. We called and

searched as best we could for a long time and later were joined by our host.

In the end we all got too thirsty to continue so I suggested going home for

a drink and afterwards carrying on the search. As soon as we approached the

bungalow I had a strange feeling that I was being watched and, bending low,

saw Pippa hiding under a bush. She seemed as happy as I was that we were

together again and, after a lot of face licking, she followed us home. I was

astonished that after such a short time in a new environment she had been

able to find her way back, and felt humbled at having so underestimated her

innate homing instinct.

 

She soon developed another habit which puzzled me. We usually took our

morning walks along the beach at early dawn when the air was cool and hardly

any people were on the beach. The afternoon walks were less private and more

of an effort because of the heat. But at whatever time of the day we passed

the big coral rock, Pippa made a rush for it and deposited her droppings on

its top. Later I observed that she always preferred to do her droppings on

elevations, either on anthills or tree stumps. Possibly this was due to

either an instinctive preference for a safe strategic position while

handicapped in movement or to mark her territory. But how she could make the

release of her motions coincide with whatever time we happened to pass the

chosen spot, I could not understand.

 

Within the next few days Pippa grew less nervous of the water and,

especially at low tide, enjoyed exploring the exposed beaches around the

larger coral rocks of which there were several close to the coast.

Unfortunately, I had always to control her by the nylon line as she was only

too keen to climb these islands from which I would have had no means of

bringing her back should she decide to stay there when the tide came in.

Meanwhile, she had a lot of fun poking at little fish in shallow pans,

chasing after the provoking crabs or just splashing about in the water.

Obviously, I was never able to photograph her swimming as she only did this

to follow me and I could not take a photograph in these circumstances.

 

One night the sea got very rough and the roaring of the crashing waves ebbed

away only at dawn when the tide receded. On our morning walk we found large

piles of seaweed, up to six feet high, deposited along the line of the tide,

separated by narrow gaps. Pippa seemed to think that they had been put there

for her entertainment and leapt from one pile to the next across the gaps

with such speed that she seemed almost to fly. Having still to control her

by the nylon line, Muguru and I took breathless turns at keeping up with

her, and dreaded these heaps as much as Pippa favoured them. As she only

interrupted our exercises when other distractions diverted her interest, I

now welcomed all holidaymakers in sight as they usually stopped to admire

Pippa or to take photographs. Although she was camera shy, she tolerated

this but then took her revenge by catching her admirers off guard, advancing

on them from the back and then, with a quick movement of her front leg,

swiping at their knees.

 

The filming of the lions in the sea went off splendidly and everybody was

very pleased with the results. Towards the end of our stay I too wanted to

take photographs of these marvellous scenes. Trying to keep out of the way

of the filming unit, I waited my opportunity near a coral rock while the

camera crew floated on a raft close to the actors. According to the script,

Mara was supposed to swim, with Bill and Ginny Travers (acting George and

myself) and then all were to walk together to the beach. But Mara was far

more interested in the rolling waves which, as they reached the shore, broke

high into spraying foam, then dissolved into little ripples, soaked up by

the sand. She dived powerfully through the breakers, letting them roll over

her and bobbed up and down in the glistening foam waiting for the next wave

to swamp her again. The Traverses had a tough time to keep up with her until

they could direct her towards the cameras and wade with her into the

picture. At this moment Mara saw me: she knew me well, but as I was wearing

an unfamiliar bathing suit she seemed not to have recognized me and, judging

by her flattened ears, as she waded over determinedly, I knew that I was in

for a rough game. Hoping to break the impact of her final rush and avoid

landing on the sharp coral I pretended to feel at ease and walked slowly

behind the rock, only just in time to rescue my camera from her reach before

she bounced on me and knocked me into the shallow water. Then, having

identified me, she sat on me and licked me gently while I stroked her.

Finally she got up and waded back to the raft.

 

It was only then that I discovered she had accidentally slightly scratched

my arm which started to bleed as soon as I lifted it out of the water.

Making use of the salt water as a disinfectant I washed it repeatedly, then

waded to the beach to take some photographs of the filming from the car of

the White hunter who had transported Mara to the scene. After this I swam

out to the raft to congratulate everyone on the marvellous shots they must

have got that morning.

 

On returning to the beach I was surprised to see our nursing Sister arriving

with the first aid box. Apparently she had been summoned by the White

hunter. I was very fond of Sister and appreciated her concern about my

scratches but explained that I did not need all the injections which she was

preparing to give me and suggested that all I needed was sulphanilamide.

This had always proved very effective in dealing with the various injuries I

had received during the years in which I had lived amongst wild animals and

these injuries had been much worse than today's superficial wound. Sister,

however, insisted that I must be in great pain and therefore needed morphia

and that I must also be treated for delayed shock since, considering my

lacerated arm, my behaviour was abnormal; next I was to be injected with

penicillin to prevent blood poisoning and have inoculations against tetanus.

In fact, I had to have the lot, for who was I to know what should be done in

such an emergency?

 

Although I sympathized with Sister, who seemed to sense that this might be

her only opportunity to use the lavish assortment of medical supplies with

which she had been equipped for such a potentially dangerous film as ours

was, with twenty lions starring as co-partners, I did not see why I should

be the victim.

 

But all my protests were silenced and after being duly injected with all

those powerful drugs, I was taken to the Malindi hospital to be stitched up

as well. During the twenty mile drive I felt very sick and only just managed

to stagger into the hospital. I was so full of drugs that the doctor decided

to give me one more injection to counteract the previous ones. By this time

I was beyond caring and only vaguely conscious of having my arm attended to.

 

Eventually I was allowed to go home and to bed. Dizzy from all the treatment

I dozed off But not for long for soon visitors arrived to enquire how I

felt. Though this must have been obvious, they chatted on until another

party came, followed by yet another. All I longed for was to be left alone.

It took me two days to recover from the drugs, during which Pippa spent most

of her time close to me. Since we had only known each other for two weeks I

was very touched at this proof of her affection.

 

All my life I had wanted to have a cheetah as a friend - then Elsa arrived.

After her death I determined not again to become attached to any animal. But

as cheetah have such a different temperament and character from lions, I

felt I could become attached to Pippa without feeling disloyal to Elsa. If

the lion is gregarious, demonstrative in his affections, ritual in his

habits, fears no natural enemy, placidly self-possessed, the cheetah is

elusive, highly strung, always on the alert and instinctively conceals

himself. Listening now to Pippa purring, I was as content as she seemed to

be.

 

The film unit went back to Naro Moru but I stayed on for a little longer to

do some TV scenes for a programme intended to show the attractions of Kenya.

Among the sites chosen were the ruins of Gedi, an ancient Arab town which

had recently been excavated. Its atmosphere was ghostly but Pippa brought

gaiety to it as she skipped amongst the broken, ornate gates and palace

walls, her golden, spotted fur in beautiful contrast to the grey stones. She

also helped me when doing scenes of the shore for she gave an unusual touch

to beachcombing.

 

When we were ready to return, I found myself left to drive alone with Pippa

from Mombasa to Naro Moru, a distance of 420 miles. After some hours she

became very restless and, apart from jumping about in the car, insisted on

sitting on the steering wheel and on my bandaged arm. Finally I had no

choice but to put her into the wired travelling crate I had taken along for

such an emergency. Pippa resented this very much. Never before had she been

confined in a crate and she protested furiously, uttering a great variety of

sounds which simulated bird calls. Amongst her repertoire I identified the

call of yellow-neck (francolin). It took about two hours before she became

exhausted and settled down.

 

At this time I knew very little about the habits of cheetah and took her

vocal performance as a normal reaction to distress. But, later, when I asked

cheetah and bird experts about it, I learned that I had been privileged to

listen to a unique demonstration of a wild mammal imitating bird calls.

Although, on two later occasions, I heard Pippa mock yellow-necks, she never

again gave voice to such variety of sounds; but nor has she since been in

such distress.

 

Cheetah live largely on birds and small mammals and it may be that in the

wild they imitate a bird in order to deceive and attract it. Yet, whenever I

have watched Pippa stalking birds, she has never uttered a sound. Perhaps

this is because she has only been playing with the birds, not actually

hunting them for food. The metallic chirp of the cheetah is well known, it

is used to communicate or when alarmed. When Pippa defends her meat she

growls and breathes heavily, but when she is content her purring shakes her

body.

 

She had a cosy sleeping box but even if it were raining, she liked best to

sleep outside in her compound. This was encouraging as it proved that she

preferred natural conditions to living as a pet. Further to break her

domestic habits, I stopped taking her to the main farmhouse where the unit

lived; in any case, neither she nor the film people enjoyed each other's

company. Pippa also never came to be at ease with the lions which lived

close to the Simba Camp but as there was nothing I could do about this, I

spent as much time as I could with her on the plains where she was truly

happy.

 

As soon as I let her out of the car she raced off into space, enjoying her

freedom. She also loved the coloured balloons I brought along for her.

Carried by the wind, they bobbed wildly across the grass until she touched

them with her claws and then, with a pop, they burst. Perplexed, she would

sniff at the shrivelled remains until I inflated a new balloon, then off she

went on another chase. Other sources of fun were the ant-bear and wart-hog

holes with freshly piled earth around to prove they were occupied. By the

way in which Pippa almost disappeared into them I could judge how attractive

their scent must be to her. She certainly did not share my worry about what

would happen should one of the occupants come out to investigate. But the

best fun of all was provided by the antelopes who grazed around in numerous

herds. The little Thomson's gazelle especially intrigued Pippa. After a few

days they realized that we represented no danger to them and, exasperatingly

disinterested, paid no attention to Pippa's stalking. However cleverly she

crept through the grass, wriggling close to the ground and taking the best

advantage of wind and cover, they ignored her and went on busily whisking

their little tails until she was almost on top of them. Then, hopping off on

stiff legs, they would turn round and wait until she had caught up again

only to repeat their provocation. I watched fascinated and was glad to see

that Pippa's previous life as pet had not impaired her natural instincts so

I could hope that, with more opportunities and practice, she might some day

hunt her prey like a wild cheetah.

 

http://www.muirshiel.com/safari/sources/the_spotted_sphinx.htm

 

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 12:09 PM, Atul Singh Nischal <

atulsinghnischal wrote:

 

>

>

> Experience good for India = Dissertation - Spoor density, movement and

> rehabilitation of cheetahs in Botswana (Southern Africa) By AnnMarie Houser

> 2008

>

> With India planning to reintroduce the Cheetah by importing some from

> Africa, the following and similarly well documented experiences from Africa

> maybe very useful, to Indians as well as to other African countries; also

> any credible research on Captive breeding and release of captive Cheetahs

> and their subsequent behavior in the wild.

>

> The study below also includes a report on taking three orphaned cheetahs

> Acinonyx jubatus at 8 and 12 weeks of age, bonding them as a sibling group

> and

> rehabilitating them to become self sufficient, before their eventual

> release onto a game farmland where they successfully lernt to hunt and

> subsist on their own.

>

> I have attached a copy of the pdf with this mail for the archive in case in

> future it is not available from the original source online.

>

> Atul Singh Nischal

> ASIATIC LION GROUP

> http://pets.Asiatic_Lions/

>

> Dissertation -

> Spoor density, movement and rehabilitation of

> cheetahs in Botswana (Southern Africa)

> By

> AnnMarie Houser

>

> Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

> Magister Scientiae in Wildlife Management

>

>

> Centre for Wildlife Management

> Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

> University of Pretoria

> Pretoria

>

> Supervisor: Dr M.J. Somers

>

> November 2008

>

> © University of Pretoria

>

> POSTED ONLINE AT:

>

> [PDF]

>

> Spoor density, movement and rehabilitation of cheetahs in BotswanaFile

> Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat

> by AM Houser - 2009 - Related articles

> Recent studies have shown cheetahs to be more adaptable to vegetation and

> prey ...... sightings throughout one cat's home range (Marker et al., 2007).

> This may add to the ...... The deer and the tiger: A study of wildlife in

> India: 370. ...

> upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08072009-112713/.../dissertation.pdf -

>

>

>

>

http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08072009-112713/unrestricted/disserta\

tion.pdf

>

> Above includes....

>

> CHAPTER 4

>

> The Rehabilitation and Release of Three Captive Cheetah Cubs on a

> Game Farm in Tuli, Botswana

>

> Abstract

>

> The rehabilitation and reintroduction of orphaned or captive animals,

> primarily

> endangered species is becoming an important management tool. However,

> methods, costs

> and outcomes are often poorly documented. This study took three orphaned

> cheetahs

> Acinonyx jubatus at 8 and 12 weeks of age, bonded them as a sibling group

> and

> rehabilitated them to become self sufficient, before eventual release onto

> a game

> farmland.

>

> Detailed observations of their hunting and behaviour development were taken

> at

> 1.5 years of age. They were released at 2 years old onto a 9000 ha game

> farm where they

> were monitored using cell/GPS collars, and observed weekly. Home ranges

> were from

> 44- 121 km2, the cheetahs were hunting successfully and exhibited

> behaviours similar to

> wild cheetahs. They travelled primarily between 04:00- 11:00, and 18:00-

> 00:00, and their

> mean daily travel ranged from 4.49- 9.4 km/day.

>

> The cheetahs left the farm at 2.5 years old and were subsequently killed.

> Both

> females crossed into South Africa, where one was killed by illegal hunting,

> the other by a

> drive by shooting. The male was killed by the Botswana wildlife department,

> after

> mistaking him for a leopard. Although the rehabilitation of self sustaining

> animals was

> accomplished, they all died due to the same realities wild cheetahs

> encounter everyday.

> While rehabilitation may be achieved in a timely and cost effective manner,

> alone it will

> not secure the fate of orphaned wildlife, without the education of farmers

> and government

> agencies to the plight of predators and other management options. This is a

> viable

> alternative for orphaned cheetahs with continued monitoring and publishing

> of results of

> future trials.

>

> ...... Detailed chapter included in above dissertation.

>

> Also see:

>

> Cheetah Conservation Botswana

> CHEETAH CONSERVATION BOTSWANA aims to

> preserve the nation's cheetah population through scientific research,

> community outreach and education, working with rural communities to

> promote coexistence with Botswana's rich diversity of predator species.

> http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/index.php

> http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/project.php

> Cheetah tracking - Plotting the movements of a cheetah by cellular collar

> http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/tracking.php

> Latest news

> http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/news.php

> Earlier news

> http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/news_old.php

> At WAZA website - World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

>

>

http://www.waza.org/en/site/conservation/waza-projects/project-overview/cheetah-\

conservation-botswana

> Botswana Tourism Board - Cheetah

> http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/flora_n_fauna/cheetah.html

> At Houston Zoo website

> http://www.houstonzoo.org/cheetah-conservation-botswana/

> At Predator Conservation Trust website

> http://www.predatorconservation.com/cheetah_conservation_botswana.htm

> At Wildlife Conservation Network website

> http://wildlifeconservationnetwork.org/wildlife/cheetahbotswana.html

>

> BotswanaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana

> CheetahFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah

>

> Asiatic CheetahFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah

>

> Cheetah Reintroduction in India

> From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah_Reintroduction_in_India

>

>