Just jump. Oh, and hang on.: Coastal Christmas 4- Tenikwa Cheetahs

December 19, 2013

"Is M walking a cheetah?"

We got this question a lot when I posted a picture from Tenikwa as one of the teaser shots from our Christmas trip. But before I get into why he was walking a cheetah, and how that's even possible, let me back up a bit...

One of the things I learned about captive animals (big cats in particular- lions, cheetahs, leopards, caracals, etc) during our Christmas trip is that once they have been bread in captivity, they must remain hand-fed as they will never learn to hunt and kill properly. Given that there are so many places for truly wild animals here, there really isn't much need to see a lion in a zoo, is there? And so, there is a shortage of places for these once-captive animals to go in the event that the "captive" places no longer desire them (read: when they no longer play well with others in the zoo, when someone decides lions and cheetahs do not make good pets, or breeders over-breed). Enter the wildlife sanctuary.

Tenikwa is one such place: Their passion is "re-wilding" big cats whenever possible. They take in injured or abandoned cats and after healing and caring for them, they begin the process of reintegrating them into the wild. Obviously a program of this nature requires funding though, and of no short supply. As I mentioned, cats born in captivity as a general rule cannot be released into the wild. And so, Tenikwa gives these cats a lovely semi-natural home in the Tsitsikamma Indigenous Forest, and offers the public a chance to experience a "wild cat encounter". This provides an opportunity to educate the public about big cats and gives people a chance to get up-close and personal with these guys, while funding the program for "wild" big cats to be returned to their natural habitat.

We spent a couple of hours with two cheetahs (sister and brother!), joining them on their evening stroll (which turned out to be a very brisk walk…). The one with the red harness is a female, and the one with the black harness is a male. While they were outfitted in harnesses and leashes, do not be fooled by who was walking who!