CHEETAH SIGHTINGS - 2007
December 2007
The two male cheetahs were seen on four occasions during the report period. On the first day of the month the two males were followed as they moved through the open area around Claredon dam. The two males spotted a young zebra only a few weeks old and stalked that way. The two males managed to separate the youngster and killed it before the herd could react. On the other sighting the two males were very active but no further hunting was seen.
Photograph by ranger Anthony Harding
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 2
November 2007
The cheetah viewing at MalaMala this report period has been consistent with previous report periods. The two dominant males from the Claredon Dam area were the most frequently viewed cheetahs. This is easily explained, as male cheetahs have far smaller territories to females, and hence will be seen with far more consistently in particular areas.
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Cheetah and Cub - Photograph by ranger Nic Proust
A female cheetah and her cub were viewed in the region of Tlebe rocks early on in the report period. Through a spot analysis, rangers were able to establish that she was in fact the same cheetah seen with two cubs on the airstrip from 05/08/07 - thus the African bush had clearly claimed another victim. Unfortunately, it was reported that the female initially had three cubs, and thus one hopes that the single surviving cub will in fact survive to adulthood.
Female Cheetah - Photograph by ranger Chris Galliers
A single adult female cheetah was seen very briefly as she took refuge from the Styx pride. The female ran very quickly north and east through Rhino Pens, and was not relocated.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 5
October 2007
Cheetahs were not seen very frequently during this report period. However, what was seen of them was of excellent value. Mostly it was the two male cheetah that frequent the Clarendon open area that were seen.
Photograph by ranger Bruce Hedges
However a female cheetah seen close to the Matshapiri river, on the boundary between MalaMala and Flockfield, was observed to run in on and subsequently catch a female duiker. The two male cheetah also provided entertainment when they moved south down our boundary with the KNP, hunting impala along the way.
Photograph by ranger Anthony Harding
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 3
September 2007
The two male cheetahs, often seen in the Claredon area, were encountered a number of times during the report period at Claredon dam and once in the Emsagwen region.
Photograph by ranger Bruce Hedges
The two male’s appeared in good health throughout the report period, however one of the males is sporting a gash on his hind leg as a result of chasing a kudu unsuccessfully, but injuring himself against a stump in the process. By the end of the report period, the injury had healed substantially. Hopefully with the coming of the rains and increased surface water in the eastern parts of the reserve, rangers will view cheetahs more frequently.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 2
August 2007
A single mother cheetah was found on the new airstrip in the early part of the report period. Encouragingly, the female had two very young cubs with her, and although they were relatively nervous, they did allow rangers to view them without showing too much concern. Rangers established that the female had in fact killed an impala close to Petri’s camp, however it appeared as if it had been stolen by gathering vultures.
Photograph by ranger Bruce Hedges
Just a couple of days later, a single male cheetah was found near the borehole in eastern Flockfield, and the male was seen to move steadily south and west towards Jakkalsdraai open area. He was relocated in the afternoon, and followed southwards.
Photograph by ranger Anthony Harding
The two male cheetahs often seen in the area of Claredon dam were only seen once during the report period. Perhaps the fact that there is no water at Claredon dam is decreasing the number of cheetah sightings in that part of Mala Mala. A single female cheetah was seen during the course of one morning in the middle part of the report period. The female was seen to take an active interest in a herd of impala, but unfortunately for her, she was unsuccessful.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 9
July 2007
The first cheetah sighting happened in the middle of the report period with an adult female being found, she was slightly nervous around the vehicles. She was followed through the more open areas of MalaMala moving north, the cheetah ran in on a duiker and rangers were lucky to witness a kill.
The next sighting of a cheetah was again in central MalaMala with one being found sleeping on a termite mound, this cheetah was relaxed and did not do much for most of the day.
The two male cheetah we often see around Claredon dam were seen during this report period, the two seem to be in great condition and are still spending most of there time in the Kruger national park. As the bush gets dryer and opens up more the cheetah sightings will continue to rise, as they prefer the more open bush so they can reach the great speeds they are known for.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 4
June 2007
The 2 male cheetahs that frequent the Claredon Dam area have been seen on 9 different occasions during the report period. This month they were not observed to kill anything but were seen hunting wildebeest unsuccessfully a number of times.
Male cheetah - Photograph by ranger Andrew Batchelor
The single large male cheetah was only seen once this month and it may be that the 2 brothers are gaining the upper hand in the struggle for Clarendon Dam. Most of these sightings occurred early in the report period, however with the arrival of the wild dog den, the Clarendon area has unfortunately not been worked as much during the latter half of the report period. There was also evidence, in the form of a kudu kill, that there has been cheetah activity at the Mlowathi Dam. It is surprising that there have not been more cheetahs seen in this area as it is well suited to the species and is well stocked with prey in the form of impala, kudu and wildebeest. In the past there was much higher cheetah activity in this open area and we can only hope that in time there will be again.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 3
May 2007
There was some good cheetah viewing in the game report period with the 2 brothers being viewed on 3 occasions in the vicinity of Claredon Dam, an area, which they frequent. Interestingly though later in the report period another much larger male cheetah was seen in the vicinity of Claredon Dam also on at least 3 occasions. It is more than likely that there will be a clash between these 2 sets of cheetah in the future as they both try to lay claim to an area ideally suited to this species as it has large open areas in a part of the bushveld that is more associated with broken woodland.
Photograph by ranger Anthony Harding
The highlight of the month, however, was the viewing of a lactating female cheetah on 2 occasions, both times on the eastern parts of the property. Although there is a healthy cheetah population on Mala Mala, this is great news because it is a while since small cheetah cubs have been viewed in this part of the world.
Photograph by ranger Wade Goss
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 4
April 2007
There was a good start to cheetah viewing on Mala Mala when early in the game report period a female cheetah was seen making her way north from the area known as the Golf Course not too far west of the Sand River. Of the few sightings of this cheetah most were observed with the anticipation that she might hunt, however it was only on one occasion that she made a half-hearted attempt on an adult duiker.
Photograph by ranger Nick Proust
The cheetah sighting of the month, however, was of the two males that frequent the open area around Claredon Dam. On this occasion, these two animals were seen well west from there, east of the Mlowathi River close to Mlowathi Dam. They were found in the vicinity of a dead sub-adult male impala allowing them to feed at leisure until they eventually abandoned it. A few days later these two males were seen around their favourite Claredon Dam area looking rested and well fed. The future looks bright for this young coalition and they especially are responsible for some relatively consistent cheetah viewing.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 3
March 2007
Two cheetahs were found resting on the airstrip, very late in the morning of the 09 March. The cheetahs were resting in the shade of a ridiculously small acacia tree, and were forced to follow the limited shade provided by the tree for the entire day. Rangers were able to sex the two as a female and a young male possibly a mother and cub. The following day, they were seen to feed from a freshly killed impala carcass, before a hyena chased them off.
Photograph by ranger Devon Myers
Other cheetah encountered included two well fed males in the north eastern parts of Mala Mala, as well a well fed female in the Mlowathi open area. The female was viewed for several days as she moved around the Mlowathi dam region.
February 2007
Two male cheetahs were found on the very first morning of the report period. Both males were very well fed, and rested in the shade for the entire day. Towards evening, the males headed north, crossing the Mahlabatini donga before settling down for the night.
Photograph by ranger Bruce Hedges
The morning of the 27 January was a hive of activity in the Claraden dam open area. Rangers found five cheetahs in the region, with much interaction between two groups. The entire situation was difficult to interpret, but rangers believed that the one group consisted of a brother and sister pair, and the second, a group of young males that wanted to mate with the female. It appeared as if the brother was trying to protect his sister from the three males. Much snarling and growling was heard, with cheetahs slapping their forelegs against the ground, trying to appear more formidable.
January 2007
There were two Males found on the north-eastern corner of the reserve at Clarendon Dam. They were viewed on numerous occasions scent marking and calling. An Adult Female was also viewed in this area. This leads us to believe that she was in oestrous and would explain the behaviour of the two Males in the area.
Photograph by ranger Devon Myers
There was a single Sub-adult Male seen a number of times in the same area as the above mentioned Cheetah. It seemed that he was looking to join their co-illation, yet was rejected many times.
A Female and three Cubs were seen at Buffalo Bush Dam on the Mid-Eastern parts of the reserve as they hunted impala in the area, yet were left unsuccessful.
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Photograph by ranger Nick Proust
Two Young Males were seen to kill a Sub-adult Female Kudu on the Flockfield region of the reserve. They were seen on three occasions after this before they moved east into the Kruger National Park.
Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 2
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