King Cheetah

[Flutterby]

Someone took this pic in Kruger today They only managed a bad pic with a cellphone but they are convinced it was a King Cheetah!

I enlarged it to this.

[Lisbeth]

Looks like one

Did they say where they saw it?

[Flutterby]

10kms from Letaba going towards Olifants.

[Flutterby]

Breaking News
After a long absence, (previous confirmed sighting was many years ago in Sabie Sands) a king cheetah has been photographed (and identified as such by Andrew Desmet and John Adamson) near Letaba!!!!!

[Richprins]

Certainly not normal!


...they have all sorts of patterns:
















One can check many google images, and virtually all of them have a heavily-barred tail.


Can you get hold of the lady for a big pic, Flutts, so we can send on?

[Richprins]

A clear pic was taken by a tourist near Tshokwane about 35 years ago, will try and find it! The last Kruger one.

[Richprins]

Here we go!

[Richprins]

So

[Lisbeth]

From page two in the Cheetah topic:

Its species status was resolved in 1981 when king cheetahs were born at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre in South Africa. In May 1981, two spotted sisters gave birth there and each litter contained one king cheetah. The sisters had both mated with a wild-caught male from the Transvaal area (where king cheetahs had been recorded). Further king cheetahs were later born at the Centre. It has been known to exist in Zimbabwe, Botswana and in the northern part of South Africa's Transvaal province. A recessive gene must be inherited from both parents for this pattern to appear, which is one reason why it is so rare.

So it is still possible that there are a few around somewhere

[Dzombo]

I seem to recall there are quite a few of them at De Wildt