Addo Outings 2017

[Mel]

Ref: 9/2/2-17-AENP

16 May 2017

MEDIA RELEASE (CHEETAH)

For Immediate Release

ADDO CHEETAH TRANSLOCATED TO KWAZULU-NATAL

Two of the three cheetahs which broke into Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) outside Port Elizabeth in 2014 have been captured and will be translocated to the Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal.

The three males from a neighbouring property were not destined to remain in Addo as they never occurred in the area naturally. It is South African National Parks’ policy to only introduce wildlife species to parks where they would have occurred before hunting or habitat loss forced them to local extinction.

The three caused great excitement among guests, who had never before 2014 seen cheetah in Addo’s game viewing area. They had been the topic of many discussions since, with some groups planning visits to the Park with the specific hope of capturing them on film. Today’s operation was conducted by AENP conservation officials, with assistance from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT). The animals will now form part of the EWT’s Cheetah Metapopulation Project (CMP), which entails the management of over 300 cheetahs on more than 50 small fenced reserves in South Africa.

A managed population is a set of geographically isolated populations of the same species that exchange individuals through human-controlled movement. Fenced metapopulations need to be managed to prevent the undesired effects of inbreeding. The project is a collaborative effort between all cheetah reserves in South Africa, co-ordinated by the EWT and funded by a number of international environmental entities and generous donations. In other words, the principal goals of the CMP are to maintain the genetic and demographic integrity of the metapopulation and to increase the resident range of cheetah in South Africa.

AENP Conservation Manager, John Adendorff, says they foresee the two will form a coalition at Phinda and hopefully pass on their genetics to new generations.

****Ends****
For previous media statements please go to http://www.sanparks.org
Issued by : South African National Parks (SANParks) Frontier Region
Communications

Enquiries : Fayroush Ludick: Regional Manager: Communications, SANParks
Tel: 082 888 0201 or 012 426 5371 or email: fayroush.ludick@sanparks.org

[Mel]

No more cheetah sightings in Addo

[Mel]

..., but it seems that the 3rd cheetah didn't take well to the darting and ended up dying as a result

No official account of what really happened either, but in line with the announcement that the other two are gone,
it was also confirmed that the third one is dead.

[nan]

oups

[All-Nature]

How fortunate to have spotted the Caracal and get a

We were also in Addo during this time PJL and managed to see the 2 Cheetah brothers for the last time!
If only we had known you were also in the Park would have been nice to meet you!

[PJL]

How fortunate to have spotted the Caracal and get a

We were also in Addo during this time PJL and managed to see the 2 Cheetah brothers for the last time!
If only we had known you were also in the Park would have been nice to meet you!

Absolutely! Next time you're heading that way give me a shout
Did you by any chance get to see the new lion cubs in the south?

[PJL]

S and I have just returned from a couple of nights in Addo (minus our lion magnets) courtesy of a photographic prize. Some kind people voted for one of my caracal shots in the annual SP photo competition, and the voucher needed to be used by early June so we figured this would be a good way of celebrating our upcoming wedding anniversary

We decided to stay at Matyholweni camp in the south of the park, as we would never have stayed there unless someone else is paying - we would camp at less than a quarter of the price

It was a bit of a late arrival for us, but we were able to squeeze in a few hours in the park. I knew that Josie and her new cubs had been parked off next to the road in Wayne's Valley the whole day, so I was really hoping they would still be there (though we were under strict instructions from the kids that we weren't allowed to see the cubs without them ). Nearing Peasland waterhole, this chap was blocking the road



He was obviously in musth with the secretions showing from his temporal glands and plenty of urine splashing the inside of his hind legs, but he was quite chilled and moved out the way fairly quickly. Just on from Peasland there was an enormous herd of buffalo







Bringing up the rear of the herd was this bull. He had a magnificent set of horns





As we dropped into Wayne's Valley it quickly became clear that the lions had gone as there were no cars stopped anywhere

The road leading up out of the valley has a good view so we popped up there to see if anything was visible and it didn't take long to track down where the lionesses had gone



Unfortunately they were a long way off, very sleepy looking and there was no sign of the cubs

However after watching for a while one of them suddenly became a lot more alert and then started moving downhill from her vantage point. We drove down a bit to try and work out what she had seen and it turned out to be a small herd of zebra making their way through the valley... we might be on for a hunt! For a moment I forgot all about the lioness as this was the first time I've managed to see oxpeckers in Addo



A short while later the lioness appeared through the bushes. It was Dawn, and she clearly had her eyes on the zebra





We turned the engine off and were ready with cameras/video for a hunt that never materialised
In fact, Dawn totally disappeared so we ended up retreating to our higher vantage point until she came back quite a lot later for another look around





In the fading light, she wandered back up the hill to join her sister and mom. There wasn't any other movement and with night approaching we figured it was at least a good thing we knew roughly where to look for them the next day

Heading back we enjoyed a spectacular sunset and then it was on with the braai and some good steak

[Mel]

It appears that you don't always need your lion magnets But I'm not quite sure if I want you to head to their order not to find the cubs without them for them not be disappointed if you did, or if I'm selfish enough wanting to see your photos of them...

Either way - for not having had much time that first afternoon / evening you did get to see quite some good things

The sunset is brilliant

[nan]

wow Oxpecker, kind road block and biiggg herd of Buffaloes
and the Lioness, far away but Lioness

[Lisbeth]

Dawn is a very pretty lady

Congratulation for the prize winning