UPDATE: THE MADIKWE CONSERVANCY CHEETAH PROJECT (POWERED BY PURPLE RAIN GAME BREEDERS)
The Madikwe Conservancy Cheetah project (Powered by Purple Rain Game Breeders) is doing really well. Unfortunately, as some of you might have heard, one of our cheetah cubs were killed by a spotted hyena during the full moon period last month. The mortality rate for cheetah cubs in the wild is about 70%. The other two cubs are growing up quickly and are now very mobile. Thombi, the adult female, has moved her cubs to the south of the reserve.
The satellite functionality on Thombi's collar is no longer working so it is often difficult to find her. With the guidance of Vincent van der Merwe, the manager of the Cheetah metapopulation project in the country, we got the go ahead to dart Thombi at the end of August to replace her collar. He said that the cubs will only move away a short distance and will return to her as soon as the darting exercise is complete (See attached map to show Thombi’s movements during the month of July).
