Nkanyiso, a successfully rewilded cheetah was found with a broken leg; she was taken in for surgery and discovered to have recently given birth to cubs; two rangers searched high and low to find her babies and they did it!
South Africa (17 May 2024) – The Global Humane Conservation Fund of Africa (GH-CFA), an initiative under Global Humane, announced the successful rewilding of a cheetah named Nkanyiso and a rescue of her four cubs.
Nkanyiso arrived at the Nyosi Wildlife Reserve and was introduced into a rewilding enclosure on April 19, 2023. She was four years old when she arrived as part of the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative to rewild genetically important species. The rewilding campaign was a collaboration between Nyosi Wildlife Reserve, The Metapopulation Initiative, WeWild Africa, and the Global Humane Conservation Fund of Africa.
All cheetah subspecies are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, except the Northwest African and Asiatic cheetah which are critically endangered.
“Rewilding efforts help protect critical species from the sixth mass extinction,” said Dr. Robin Ganzert, CEO of American Humane. “We are immensely proud to have helped Nkanyiso and her four cubs through this initiative.”
Following two months of preparations to ensure she was ready to move from a lifetime of captivity to the wild, Nkanyiso was released from her enclosure as a wild cheetah on Nyosi Wildlife Reserve. Within three months, she became self-sufficient.
Nearly a year after her arrival, on April 1, 2024, Nkanyiso was found by a reserve guide with a serious leg injury. Due to her previous relationships with people, she knew to seek out the vehicle for help. The team secured a portable X-ray machine, and upon her examination, realized that she was lactating and has given birth to a litter of cubs somewhere on the reserve.
The X-rays confirmed that her front right leg was broken; therefore, releasing her to find the cubs would be extremely risky. The team instead deployed two of Nyosi’s guides, Braden and Jack, to attempt to find the cubs on the 2,500-hectare (6,200-acre) reserve.
Despite the slim odds, the Nyosi guides found four cubs and spent two hours working to safely catch them in the rough thicket of the Eastern Cape. The team managed to rescue all four cubs and take them back to their mother in the enclosure.
A few days later, Nkanyiso received surgery at a local veterinary clinic where she was given a metal plate to heal her broken leg, and she is now able to walk on it again.
“This amazing story of not only saving Nkanyiso, the mother with a broken leg of four Cheetah cubs and secondly her cubs who were without their mother because of the injury, is a conservation story that should be shared internationally,” said Adrian Gardiner, Director and Shareholder of Nyosi Wildlife Reserve. “Her successful operation and being back with her cubs is heartwarming.”
Nkanyiso’s cubs will remain in the enclosure with her while the team continues to look after the welfare of all five cheetahs, with the hopes of rewilding them all when the time is right.
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