Tracking Wild Cheetah on Foot

Описание: Experiencing a cheetah sighting on a safari drive is exhilarating enough. Imagine our delight when we learned that at Mountain Zebra National Park in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, one can track them on foot! And so that is just what we did.

Mountain Zebra National Park is a small reserve managed by the South African National Parks, a state managed entity. This reserve is 28 412 hectares in size and is home to a range of endemic wildlife including predators like lions and cheetah. We headed off in an open game viewing vehicle into the reserve. Our safari guide and tracker got out of the vehicle to establish a signal direction.

The cheetah is fitted with a VHF collar. Using a receiver and directional antenna, we were able to locate the general direction of the animal. It was time for a walk in the bush. We walked for about 20 minutes, enjoying the sights and sounds along the way. Our tracker was carrying a rifle. Since there are lions in the reserve this was precautionary. It had been snowing overnight so with the icy wind and intermittent rain it was very cold when we finally saw her. Rachel, a young female cheetah, was not more than 6 meters from us. She was nicely sheltered from the wind blustering around us and even rolled on her back, paws, and belly in the air, enjoying the sunshine.

We learned that Rachel, named after her benefactor, is about 3 years old and was raised by her father after her mom was killed. Fortunately, she was already weaned when this happened so dad was left to teach her how to hunt. And what a good job he did! You may notice blood on her chin and chest, indicating that she has fed quite recently.

Cheetah are solitary animals and will only come together briefly for mating. Rachel was recently seen in the company of a male so there might be cubs bounding around soon!

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