The conservation team at Mabula Private Game Reserve has been hard at work protecting endangered cheetahs against possible extinction.
Just a two-hour drive from Johannesburg in the Waterberg region of Limpopo Province, the 12 000-hectare reserves have made great strides in helping preserve the cheetah population in Southern Africa.
The reserve is currently home to three adult cheetahs, a female and two males – with two cubs, aged 15 months residing on the reserve.
Preller Human, Mabula Reserve Ecologist explains that as part of the project ‘surplus cheetahs born on Mabula (and other reserves which are part of the project) have been introduced to reserves which have the space to house them and have the capability of producing a breeding viable cheetah population.’
Conserving an endangered species is not just about breeding them in abundance. A lot of work also goes into choosing the right locations for the animals to thrive and feel at home.
In total, 11 Mabula cubs have been moved to various reserves in southern Africa since 2016, of which four were female and subsequently given birth on multiple occasions.
The reserve also moved its first female cheetah to Entabeni, a private game reserve in Limpopo in 2016 and two male cheetahs to Mountain Zebra National Park in the Eastern Cape and the Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique respectively.
Human explains that the cheetahs are fitted with GPS collars that help them track and monitor their activity and movements. ‘It is very important for a reserve the size of Mabula to know the trends in predator species selection (what animals the cheetahs have killed to survive) and utilisation of carcasses, so we monitor the cheetahs daily.’
In addition, the team checks up on the cheetahs’ eyesight and mobility and looks out for any injuries, which might require veterinarian work.
Human emphasises they try, as far as possible, to eliminate their impact on the cheetah population at the reserve to allow their natural behaviour to take its course.
He concludes that the cheetah population on Mabula plays a vital role in the ecology of the reserve – ‘the cheetah filling a specific predator niche, capable of removing weaker genetics from the antelope populations roaming on the reserve.’
Pictures: Supplied
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