The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) just announced that they released a captive-bred female cheetah in the Pidwa Wilderness Reserve
Pidwa Wilderness Reserve – Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) release captive-bred cheetahs to enhance the genetic diversity within the wild. HESC has been breeding cheetahs since 1990.
“It is the ultimate objective of our cheetah breeding programme and the release will provide a fresh bloodline to broaden the diversity of the gene pool of the Pidwa cheetahs.
As female cheetahs are solitary animals by nature, releasing a single cheetah into a new area is a normal practice and is consistent with the way in which they live in the wild.”
The release will take place in 3 stages, the first being a three-month habituation period in a predator-free boma of one hectare.
During the second stage, the cheetah will be moved to a 2,000-hectare area devoid of cheetahs, hyenas and lions, where she will have the opportunity to hone her natural hunting skills. During this period she will be monitored daily and provided with meat should she fail to hunt successfully.
“Only once she proved herself to be an independent and successful hunter, will she be released into the 17 000 hectare, big-five reserve to meet and interact with the other inhabitants in the reserve. Monitoring will continue to ensure that she adapts to her new environment, and hunts successfully.”
The HESC has had many successful releases to date and hope to dispel the myth that captive born cheetahs can’t be released or care for themselves.
You can see the release below.
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