The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust has received world-wide acclaim for the success of its cheetah and wild dog captive-breeding programmes. Unique management techniques developed over the years have resulted in the birth of over 750 cheetah cubs and more than 500 wild dogs, as well as numbers of other rare species such as brown hyaena, suni antelope, red and blue duiker and riverine rabbit.

The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre is a Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) approved breeding centre and collaborates with the University of Pretoria's Veterinary Faculty, the Mammal Research Institute, the Agricultural Research Council and the Department of Environment and Tourism.

As the first breeder of the rare king cheetah, the Centre has ended decades of speculation that the king was a separate species: it has proved that genetically the king is a true cheetah, but with a variation of coat pattern and colouring.

The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
From the early 1960s, the cheetah has been regarded as an endangered species. The name 'cheetah' is derived from the Hindi word 'chita' which means 'speckled'. There are normal-spotted cheetahs and king cheetahs with striped-and-blotched coats.
 

 

Cheetah an endangered specie.

As a hunter and meat-eater, the animal is constantly in competition with humans, and particularly with farmers of livestock. A cheetah eats only fresh meat, consuming just enough to satisfy its hunger. Thus it might kill, say a calf but eat only a small part of it. These two factors make the animal despised by game and livestock farmers. In the wild, the cheetah falls prey most often to the lion and leopard. Today it has been exterminated from large parts of its natural habitat, and even in the wild is rarely encountered.

 

In the case of the normal-spotted variety, the general ground colour of the fur ranges from pale yellow to a golden tan which is broken with small round black spots which occur all over the pelt, except towards the end of the long white-tipped tail where the spots merge into rings.

The king cheetah has stripes running down the length of its back, with spots merging into lozenge-shaped blotches over the rest of its body. Fur is short and smooth, with longer hair over the back of the neck and shoulders. Black tearlines run from the inner eye to below the nose, giving the animal its characteristic sad look. The muzzle is light in colour and very short; the ears are small and round.

 

The world's fastest land mammal, the cheetah's gracefully slim body is built for speed; it has a small head, long legs and an oval-shaped tail that acts both as a rudder and for balance; back legs are lower than the shoulders, and between these two features the back sags slightly. Like those of a dog, the claws are readily visible - they can be retracted only partially and lack the protective sheaths found in other cat species. Other dog-like features are weak jaws, small canines, and paws with hard foot-pads making it difficult for them to climb or to jump from heights. Front paws have five digits, back paws have four. Eyes are large and coppery brown in colour, though the colour may vary from animal to animal.
Weight (mass): about 35 - 60 kilograms;
Length: 1,8 - 2,2 metres;
Length of tail: 65 - 80 centimetres;
Shoulder height: 75 - 90 centimetres.

 

Did you know:
• Cheetah have extremely keen eyesight and hunt predominantly by sight.
• Cheetahs do not usually climb trees, but they make use of low branches to gain elevation. They also climb trees to defecate or urinate.
• The cheetahs tongue is well adapted for licking as it is covered with an arrangement of papillae. These horny projections make this organ extremely rough.

• The black tear line, which is unique to the cheetah, extends from the eye to the upper lip, on each side of the face. It has been suggested that the tear lines help to lessen the glare from the sun.
• Cheetahs are not gregarious. They seldom form groups and the groups that do exist generally consist of a mother with cubs, or a coalition of males.
• By the age of seven months the cubs begin taking part in a hunt. The female will not kill the prey herself, but instead she will assist the cubs to do so, either by cutting off the escape route of the intended victim, or by bringing the live prey to the cubs.
• Adult cheetah in captivity eat about 3 - 4 kg of red meat daily. Cheetah seldom eat the hard bone. Many captive cheetah are fed on whole unplucked chickens. It is considered by some that the feathers provide roughage in their diets.
• Cheetah breathing rates have a wide range, from 16 breaths a minute for a cheetah lying resting in the shade to 156 breaths a minute for another cheetah after chasing and catching its prey.
• The tail is half the length of the body and is thought to act as a balance or rudder and to assist the animal when making sharp turns. The tail is slightly oval.