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A tale of two spotty boys
Tikki Hywood Trust
May 03, 2013

On the 21st April 2013, I awoke early in the morning to a very overcast day with the sun attempting to shine through the cloud cover. Watching a flock of egrets flying over head I remembered what today was all about, the second phase in the two cheetah brother’s journey back into the wild. With the mere thought of what lay ahead, I could feel the butterflies deep in my stomach, my palms tingled with anticipation for the day ahead. Walking to the cheetah’s enclosure at the centre, I was very aware of the two pairs of eyes watching my every move down to their gate to let them through into the next enclosure. We needed to prepare the pen that they had slept in and as I was transferring them to a neighbouring enclosure I asked myself, “Did these two boys know how vital this next step was and that they needed to go through the stress of being moved once again?” Their first move from Beitbridge to the Tikki Hywood Trust in Harare must have been incredibly stressful. They were so frightened and anaemic when they arrived and I never wanted them to go through that again.

For the past six months Benhanzia and Asanté have been an integral part of our family here at the Trust. Arriving as terrified cubs with eyes the size of saucers, these two extraordinarily majestic cats with golden coats have grown into impressive animals weighing in at a solid 35 kgs. It is never a simple process to take an animal to the next stage of reintroduction, no matter what species they are. I have always maintained that surviving in the wild as a wild animal is difficult enough so to have been compromised and started in a captive environment and then to be returned to the wild is immensely challenging. In order for this release to be achieved we have to take small steps and this next move to Umfurudzi National Park was Benhanzia and Asante’s graduation into the world of re-wilding.

By 8.30 am on the day we were ready, Dr Chris Foggin was present to supervise and take blood samples, Tim Paulet of Wildlife Management Services International was doing the immobilization and transporting the cheetahs to Umfurudzi. Also present from ZPWMA, Ranger Philemon Puleni. Representing Swift, the main sponsor for the cheetahs and assisting with filming and photography was Kerne Mackie. Immobilization is always risky and especially so for cheetahs who can be prone to complications and so we were prepared for all eventualities. Expertly done by Tim Paulet though, both boys received the sting from blow pipe darts minutes apart and drifted off to sleep. Equally expertly the boys were brought out of the management enclosure to be given their final check over at the Trust. This involved very necessary measuring, DNA sampling and a final set of close up photos, prior to being crated and moved to Umufurudzi. It hit me when we picked up Benhanzia how heavy he had become, the last time I did this it was barely an effort picking him up and walking with him on my own! This time there was no way I could have managed with out an extra pair of hands! As soon as he was on the ground we worked rapidly correlating all the new measurements, collecting the bloods and checking their overall body condition. Time plays a huge factor when working with these animals and we are pleased to say our operation was slick from knock down to them reviving was an hour. It was now 10.10 am, both cheetahs were placed into their individual crates, lying on a bed of hay with a towel covering their eyes and we were just waiting for them to come around from the anaesthetic. My heart was still racing and thoughts swirling with a heady cocktail of anxiety and adrenaline, anticipating what lay before these two cheetah brothers in their new environment.

Before long the cheetahs started to blink and attempted to hold their heads up on their own. This meant we could start the road journey to Umfurudzi. Tim drove whilst I remained in the back of the vehicle with the cheetahs, just to monitor their full wake up and make sure there were no complications. Umfurudzi Park is approx 120kms from Harare, driving slowly we estimated that the trip would take a little over two hours. Benhanzia was as good as gold, lifting his head occasionally when a truck passed or if a commuter bus hooted. Asanté on the other hand was not quite so well behaved. He had come around from the anaesthetic quicker than Benhanzia and was sitting up and smelling the air through one of the vents in the crate. At first I was not too worried as he was just trying to get his balance and seemed fairly relaxed. However, the more the journey continued the more anxious he became and it was soon very clear that we would have to stop and cover his crate completely with the canvas tarpaulin making sure that no light could be seen anywhere so that he did not try and get out. During the last 40 minute drive to Umfurudzi my mind was going through all the “what ifs”, but thankfully before too long the Umfurudzi sign post was just ahead and we were almost there.

We arrived without incident and very quickly the two crates were off loaded into the newly constructed management pen. Once everyone was out, I could open the crates. Although the boys had known me for most of their young lives, we need to always bear in mind that they are wild animals and when presented with unfamiliar surroundings one cannot predict their reaction. I also did not want to stress them further with new people the first time they assessed their new home. So once again, heart in throat and mind swirling with dreaded “what ifs?”, I slid the doors open on the crates. I let Benhanzia out first as he was still slightly under the influence of the drugs and much calmer than Asanté, but he is also the dominant brother and Asanté would follow his lead. Once again I could just see eyes wide open, and hear their insecure little hissing sounds. Both brothers were taking in their new surroundings with every breath, fibre and pore of their beings. It is during these times that you wish animals truly understood what you were doing was in their best interest. We left the boys to settle, checking on them at regular intervals. At around 3 pm I decided that they still seemed rather restless, so opened the gate into the larger enclosure so that they could take refuge in the longer grass. No sooner had the inter-leading gate opened and the two cheetahs raced into the main enclosure, moving quickly down the fence line exploring with youthful jubilation. After 20 or so minutes and having fully inspected the boundary, the boys took cover under a bush and slept. I was relieved to see this, as up till that point they had not really settled. Umfurudzi’s ambient temperature is a few degrees hotter than Harare and I could see the boys panting more than they normally did when at the Trust. With this new move there were a lot of adjustments that were required and learning how to deal with the heat was going to be just one of them.

Towards what would have been their normal feeding time I went down to the enclosure to see if we could encourage them back into the management pen, in keeping with the routine at the Trust. NO was the answer. The boys were far too interested in their latest visitors, Sondelani and her calf. Being of the wild African bovine persuasion, buffalo, to be precise, this was a very big lesson for the boys. The cheetah’s senses were alive and Benhanzia being the dominant brother let his natural instincts take over and immediately dropped into stalk position. Eyes unblinkingly focused, chest low down to the ground and each paw being carefully placed one in front of the other with extreme concentration. This was good to see, the age old cycle; predator recognising potential prey. With all the goings on we did not feed the cheetahs that night, but rather let them settle into their new home and take note of the wildlife which now surrounded them and whom they would have to learn to share they world with. During the night the boys were more awake than asleep which was a complete contrast to their routine at the Centre. After dinner activities at ‘Casa Tikki Hywood Trust’ involved leisurely grooming and a good night sleep all the way to bright sunny morning. Seeing them patrolling like true wild princes in their new kingdom made me even that much more aware that their life journey had indeed started and each day would bring new lessons in the art of survival.

As the sun started setting the baboons arrived! With loud barks the ‘dog’ of the troop climbed up a tree to get a better view of these two new arrivals. Not impressed at all he continued to hurl verbal assaults at the cheetah and added threatening gestures; bearing his huge incisors and pink gums – not a comforting picture at all. Baboons can be very aggressive to animals in enclosures and every precaution has to be taken to make sure that they cannot get access. Should an adult male have the opportunity to take on a captive raised animal? I believe it is no match and with minutes that dog would have hurt, maimed or even killed one of or even both of the boys. However, it is also important for the cheetah to get an understanding of these animals and know to be wary of them and stay out of their way. After both species had sized one another up and down, the humans decided that the baboons needed to move on and so were chased away for the evening. The dark blanket of the evening skies began to close in on all who lived at the Park. As always in Africa, so many different sounds and calls can be heard as night time arrives, this is after all one of the main reason we all fall so madly in love with Africa and her bush. Throughout the night I checked on the cheetah brothers, whom were very much wide awake and alert to all the new sights, sounds and smells.

Early the next morning, I decided that seeing as they had missed their dinner they needed a little breakfast as they would most certainly be hungry. So again I tried to call them into the management pen but they were certainly not going to be coming into it. So I walked towards them and no sooner had they realised that I was carrying food, they then came bounding forward. Each brother got a solid bone, with the sounds of growling and gnawing, I left the boys to eat and then hopefully to have another good solid sleep.

After much discussion amongst the human ‘cheetah team’ we came to a decision that the boys needed to start killing as soon as possible. With cheetahs, the biggest challenge when releasing them into the wild is that they do not know how to successfully hunt. They have to learn how to bring down their prey and then kill it. Obviously this is the hard part all round. Two domesticated guinea fowls were sourced from the local village and brought back for the cheetahs to experience the chase and then the anticipated kill. Being a vegetarian, I have always found the killing of one thing for the survival of another rather a macabre thought, so to make a sacrifice of these two birds was indeed a difficult decision for me. Nonetheless as the current day term states I had to “suck it up” and make sure that the cheetahs got what they required in order for them to learn to hunt. Minutes after the guinea fowl were put into their enclosure, Benhanzia noticed one bird. Quickly going into stalk mode his body beginning to pick up speed, and eyes locked on to the target, no sooner had the bird realised that he was potentially under threat and took flight and that is when Benhanzia made his move. Death was swift for the first bird. At this point Asanté decided to join in, not too sure as to what his role was but following his brother’s lead. No sooner had Benhanzia killed the first fowl, when he noticed the second, and in his heightened excitement he dropped the first bird and in a flash Asanté moved in and snatched the first bird, mouth full of feathers but growling. He melted off into the long grass to eat it and by this point Benhanzia moved into position and made the second kill.

Having seen this behaviour as well as the abilities of these two cheetahs has been encouraging for me to see. What I believe is now required for these cats is the same as for any Olympic hopeful – practice, practice and more practice. Lessons in what is fair game, what to avoid, how to run and duck and weave after fleeting prey. The instinct is certainly there and both Benhanzia and Asanté are more than ready to explore this new adventure. Needless to say we will be monitoring every step and will update you all on how they are doing over the new months to come.

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