CHEETAH SIGHTINGS - 2005
December 2005
The two nervous male cheetahs that were seen last month were seen on 4 different occasions again during this game report period. All sightings of these animals were on Northern Eyrefield , mainly in the vicinity of Clarendon Dam. Due to their nervous nature it was difficult to spend any length of time with them, however they were seen hunting on one occasion when accompanied by only one vehicle, but were unsuccessful. A mother cheetah with three approximately 6 month old cubs was also seen on two consecutive days on the new airstrip. The mother did attempt to hunt impala in the vicinity but was unsuccessful.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 6
November 2005
There were only three sightings of cheetahs on Mala Mala land in November, and all three sightings were of the same cheetahs, two nervous young males. They were seen in the north-eastern parts of the reserve, and could not be closely approached with the vehicles. If they are seen several more times in the coming months, they should gradually settle down and become more relaxed.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 2
October 2005
As was the case in September, there were very few sightings of cheetahs on Mala Mala in October.
- An adult male cheetah was seen at the beginning of the game report period on eastern Charleston and central-eastern Flockfield.
- There were two sightings of two very nervous cheetahs. On the first occasion it was not possible to tell what sex they were, but on the second occasion, when they were seen on a bushbuck kill, it became apparent that they were two young males.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 3
September 2005
September 2005 was not a good month for cheetah viewing on Mala Mala, with just two sightings:
- A brief sighting
of a nervous cheetah at the very beginning of the game report
period
- Just before sunset on 17 September, a female cheetah was seen with SEVEN cubs, on the eastern boundary of the reserve with the Kruger Park , near the Windmill. The cubs were very young, probably less than 2 months old, but the female was quite relaxed. A litter of seven is exceptionally large, but it is quite normal for cheetahs to have more cubs than lions or leopards, because there is higher mortality among cheetah cubs.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 1
August 2005
There were some good cheetah sightings during this game report period, with the following individuals being seen:
- A female cheetah and her four small cubs were seen twice on Toulon , feeding on impala kills.
- An adult male cheetah was seen on three occasions on the northern parts of the reserve.
- Two sub-adult male cheetahs were seen together on two occasions at the beginning of the game report period, in the north of the reserve.
- A sub-adult male cheetah , probably a little older than the two sub-adults seen together, was seen on three occasions in the northern-central parts of the reserve.
- A female cheetah was seen on two occasions on Charleston and Flockfield.
- A nervous cheetah was seen on a nyala kill in the north-eastern corner of the reserve. This cheetah could not be closely approached, but was seen on two successive days.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 11
July 2005
July was a good month for cheetah viewing, with sightings of the following animals:
-
An adult male cheetah was seen on at least 8 occasions, all in the northern half of the reserve. He was seen to kill twice, his victims being a sub-adult male impala and a juvenile kudu.
-
There were two sightings of an adult female cheetah to the east of the central parts of the reserve. On one occasion, she was seen to kill a duiker in the morning, and she continued to feed on the kill for short periods throughout the day. Somewhat unusually, she even rested close to the carcass in moderate vegetation after sunset.
-
A cheetah w as seen on the reserve’s eastern boundary with the Kruger Park, but it was not possible to tell whether it was a male or female.
-
A female cheetah was seen with four very young cubs (probably 3 months old), feeding on a kill on western Toulon.
June 2005
-
There were eight sightings of cheetahs during this game report period. Two of these sightings were of single female cheetahs, but it is not known whether these were different individuals or not. The other six sightings were of single male cheetahs, believed to be two different individuals.
-
One of the male cheetahs seen was found near Mlowathi Dam, in the north, one evening and was followed on the hunt for much of the next day. He finally caught a female impala near the Old Airstrip, south of the camp. Interestingly, he stayed in the area of his kill overnight, in spite of a leopard appearing in the general area. He finally abandoned the remains of the kill around midday, and moved towards the airstrip. The following day, a leopard had taken the scant remains of the impala up a sausage tree, but this leopard was not seen.
-
Around the middle of the month, a female cheetah was seen to make a steenbok kill, late in the morning, in the central parts of the reserve. By the afternoon game drive on that day, she had finished the kill and moved on.
May 2005
-
An adult male cheetah was seen on four occasions in the northern parts of the reserve, three times in the general vicinity of Clarendon Dam.
-
A female cheetah and two male cubs were seen on two consecutive days in the north of the reserve. On the second day, the female cheetah killed an impala.
-
A cheetah (sex unknown) killed a young kudu on north-eastern Flockfield, but lost this kill to a male leopard.
April 2005
In contrast to the first three months of the year, April was a very quiet month for cheetah, with just two sightings of a female cheetah right at the beginning of the game report period. She was seen to kill a young impala near Mlowathi Dam one morning, and the next day she was seen in the general vicinity, before she moved further north.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 1
March 2005
March was yet another excellent month for cheetah viewing, with the following animals being seen:
-
Seven sightings of an adult female cheetah, mainly in the north of the reserve. On two occasions, this cheetah was seen to make kills, in both instances young impala.
-
Three sightings of a female cheetah believed to be the mother of three sub-adult males. She was seen both in the north-west and south-west of the reserve.
-
Four sightings of three sub-adult male cheetahs, in the central and southern parts of the reserve. These youngsters have recently become independent, and could well remain together as a coalition in their adult years.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 5
February 2005
As was the case in January, February was another excellent month for cheetah viewing, with the following animals making up the sightings:
- A relaxed adult male cheetah was seen on four occasions, three times near Clarendon Dam in the north-eastern corner of the reserve, and once a few kilometres further west, near Mlowathi Dam. On one of the occasions he was particularly well fed.
- A fairly young adult female cheetah was seen on 7 occasions in the north of the reserve. Once she was still hunting after dark, but was not followed by game drive vehicles. Clearly she was successful, however, because the next morning early, she was found in much the same area, looking very full.
- An adult female cheetah and her three sub-adult sons (approximately 20 months old) were seen on seven occasions during the month of February, always in the general vicinity of the airstrip. On one of the days, the cheetahs were seen feeding on a freshly killed male impala in the middle of the afternoon.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 7
January 2005
January was an excellent month for cheetah viewing. These beautiful cats were seen on 15 of the days in January. With the exception of one nervous cheetah seen in the north-eastern corner of the reserve, the other sightings were of the following relaxed animals:
- Six sightings of an adult female cheetah and her three
sub-adult male offspring. All these sightings were in the vicinity of
the airstrip, and took place on 6 consecutive days early in this game
report period. The female cheetah was seen to catch and kill an adult
male impala, and was also responsible for killing another male impala
and a juvenile impala. The youngsters also provided entertaining viewing,
chasing warthogs, and being chased by warthogs!
- Four sightings of a relaxed young adult female cheetah,
between the Matshapiri and Mlowathi rivers. She was followed on the
hunt on a couple of occasions, and on another occasion she was seen
to be chased by two wild dogs.
- Three sightings of an adult male cheetah in the vicinity of Clarendon Dam, near the north-eastern corner of the reserve. This male cheetah was not seen to hunt, but he was well fed on one of the occasions. He was seen to show typical male cheetah territorial behaviour, scent marking extensively on a few prominent tree trunks.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered: 7
Copyright © Rattray Reserves