P.A.W.S

On the 17th June 2010 AfriCat released 3 more lucky cheetahs into Okonjima’s 16,000h cheetah rehabillitation reserve.  Here’s a little bit of background info on these cheetahs :
Charlie
4½ years old  /  Came to AfriCat at 4 months old  /  Confiscated from farmer by the MET
Trish 
4 years old  /  Came to AfriCat at 1 years old  /  Caught in boxtrap, mother never caught  /  too young to be released on her own.   
Charlie and Trish were introduced to each other in May 2009 and have stayed together since.  AfriCat have reported that Charlie and Trish brought down and killed a kudu last week and appear to be doing well and hunting successfully on their own so far.
Twiggy 
5 years old  /  Came to AfriCat at 2½ years old  /  Caught by farmer and kept in captivity for 4 months and not fed properly  /  Emaciated and malnourished when came to AfriCat - about 12 kg underweight.
AfriCat have reported that Twiggy also brought down and killed a kudu a couple of weeks ago and has since been hunting small antelope like dyker etc.  She also appears to be doing well on her own.

Above pics are Charlie & Trish, Twiggy on her own and then the original 5 cheetahs.  The original 5 and Cyclopse, the 6th cheetah on his own are also hunting and self sustaining well which is wonderful news.  P.A.W.S. volunteers continue to accompany AfriCat weekly to track on foot and monitor all 9 cheetahs.  Another 3 cheetahs are due to be released soon, I’ll be keeping you posted.

Clive and I would like to say a huge thankyou to Susan and Derek who volunteered at P.A.W.S. in May, for donating a wonderful selection of toys and games to the local village kids at Okonjima.  They came armed with a huge variety of gifts for all ages including lots of schooling equipment including pens, pencils, pads etc. plus lots of toys for just having fun with!   We gave the toys to the village school to enable all of the children to use and enjoy and also to the children living with their families at Okonjima’s entrance  security gate.  Pictured here are just some of the school children with their teachers, Miriam (on the left) and Julia (on the right).   The children were so excited to receive the toys and I’m quite sure much fun is going to be had over the coming months.  Thanks again!!

  Mafana is one of the most magnificent examples of a leopard you could ever wish to see, let alone have the privilege of getting up close and personal with.  This is exactly what happened this week for 5 lucky volunteers.  Mafana’s radio collar needed replacing and therefore he had to be darted and brought into the AfriCat clinic.  As always, when a cat is darted AfriCat take this rare opportunity of giving the cat a quick health check including the usual feline vaccinations.  Mafana weighed in at a very healthly 67kilos or 147 pounds.

Two of AfriCat’s welfare cheetahs, brothers Starsky and Hutch were darted and brought into the clinic as they were being relocated to another area within AfriCat’s welfare programme.  As always our P.A.W.S. volunteers were on hand to assist and witness the delicate proceedings of the relocation operation.  The cats were given a quick health check including a de-fleaing session which our lucky volunteers got hands on and assisted with.  Just another day in the office!!

After a much anticipated wait, the 16,000 hectare reserve on Okonjima’s land has finally been completed enabling this area to fulfil its potential of becoming a Rehabilitation Reserve for some of AfriCat’s welfare cheetah’s.  This vast landscape will play a major part in the ultimate rehabilitation and release of these wonderful creatures back into the wilds of Namibia.  This fenced reserve will allow these cats to take the time they need to become completely independent hunters in a protected area.  Once AfriCat is confident that these cheetah’s can hunt and survive unaided by humans, they will be given their second chance at a free life! 

The first six cheetah’s released were : Coco - Female - 4 yrs old / Frankie - Male - 4 yrs old / Spud - Male - 4 yrs old / Bones - Male - 4 yrs old / Hammer - Male - 5 yrs old / Cyclops - Male - 5.5 yrs old

The rehabillitation programme gives these cheetahs the opportunity to hone their hunting skills and become self-sustaining in a protected area.  Orphaned at an early age, four of these cats have missed out on all that they should have learnt from their mother while growing up.

Since their release on 18th May, they have been monitered closely and we are pleased to announce they have already caught a steenbok and a young warthog for their supper!  Our P.A.W.S. volunteers will also be assisting AfriCat with the monitoring of these beautiful creatures!

Five lucky P.A.W.S volunteers recently got the unique chance of helping out and witnessing the annual AfriCat Health checks.  A selected number of AfriCat’s welfare cheetah’s were darted and given the once over by the vets, including vaccinations against any feline diseases, a dental check and general body check over and measure.  The cheetah’s are then given a good brush to de-flea and de-tick them before they are placed in recovery crates ready for release back into their enclosures.   This is always an exciting event at AftiCat and this year was no exception!

A unique opportunity was had by a recent group of lucky volunteers when one of our resident leopards MJ and cub were box trapped, darted and brought into the AfriCat clinic for healths checks and a replacement collar  fitted for MJ.  This is the first time that her cub has been seen in such close proximity and we can finally confirm that she is a she!!  As of yet she is still unnamed and her estimated age is 7 months old.  We are pleased to report that both mum and cub are in excellent condition  and were released back into the 4,000h reserve the next day.

In a bid to make P.A.W.S. as eco-friendly as possible and with huge thanks to our first group of volunteers in January, we have cleared a large patch of ground about 75 metres from the Lapa.  Clive and our current volunteers are now colleting wire and wooden posts in order to secure the area against porcupines, kudu, oryx, dik dik and other game animals.  Once this is complete we hope to plant and grow potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, gem squash and much more!  We will also plant a herb garden to include in all our evening meals.  We can’t wait for our first produce, we’ll keep you posted!

Peter and Felix, our 2 staff members, show off with great pride their new Manchester United football shirts very kindly donated by MICHAEL OGDEN, a volunteer who came to PAWS last October ‘09 for a 6 weeks stint.  Michael had the shirts printed in the UK with boys’ favourite player numbers on the back!  Peter and Felix are wearing the shirts at every possible opportunity I’m quite sure they’re the envy of all their friends!  Thank you Michael, you definitely made their day!!

            
Some volunteers have already been lucky enough to witness this beautiful cub born to MJ last year.  MJ is keeping her cub close to her side as you can imagine and sightings are rare.  We are yet to establish the cub’s sex, although it seems likely that it’s a female leopard.  We estimate she’s about 7 months old now and this photo was taken at about 4 months old.  The cub will be left to mature without any interference and won’t be radio collared until she is old enough to leave her mother, from 18 months old onwards.  She is still yet to be named.  We’ll keep you posted on her progress.