CHEETAH SIGHTINGS - 2009

December 2009

There were no sightings of cheetah during the month.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 0

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November 2009

The young coalition of four males was seen once and another adult male was seen on one occasion. The four young males were found active and rangers followed them a long time as they moved the open areas providing great opportunities to witness some of Africa’s rarest big cats. The single cheetah was found at Clarendon dam in the afternoon, he was very relaxed and rangers watched him all afternoon finally leaving him the sun set.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 5

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October 2009

The male group of four made one appearance this month when they were found hunting wildebeest in Clarendon open area. The four were startled by people to the north of the border and took off running into Kruger. The two other sightings of cheetah were both of males, an old adult male was found moving north one overcast morning; he was very relaxed with vehicles and allowed us to watch him all day. While moving through some thick bush he suddenly took off at full speed, unseen lying in the grass was a duiker, the cheetah made straight for it at full tilt and before the poor animal could respond its life was over. The last cheetah sighting was of a young male, he too had just made a kill when rangers found him in the Kapen.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 1

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September 2009

The male group of four made one appearance this month when they were found hunting wildebeest in Clarendon open area. The four were startled by people to the north of the border and took off running into Kruger. The two other sightings of cheetah were both of males, an old adult male was found moving north one overcast morning; he was very relaxed with vehicles and allowed us to watch him all day. While moving through some thick bush he suddenly took off at full speed, unseen lying in the grass was a duiker, the cheetah made straight for it at full tilt and before the poor animal could respond its life was over. The last cheetah sighting was of a young male, he too had just made a kill when rangers found him in the Kapen.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 6

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August 2009

Relatively speaking august was and excellent month for cheetah. By normal standards two cheetah sightings is not very good but these are the first sightings we have had of these graceful cats the entire winter. One sighting was of a single young male and the second was of two young males. The first sighting the young adult walked straight past camp across the causeway an into Piccadilly triangle. The next we had tracks of him heading out of the property. The two young males were found at Claredon, the traditional home of the cheetahs at Mala Mala they went to drink at the dam then headed slowly north crossing the boundary just after dark. Hopefully September holds more sightings of these feline sprinters.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 3

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July 2009

There no sightings of cheetah during the month of July.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 0

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June 2009

June was a bleak month for cheetah as not a single animal was seen. With most of the game starting to concentrate along the riverbanks cheetah find themselves left out in the cold dusty plains with nothing to hunt.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 0

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May 2009

The three cheetah sightings this month were all of the coalition of four young males. All sightings were up at Clarendon Dam. The four are still a little nervous around vehicles but it is a far cry from when we first started seeing them. With time and a little patience from rangers they will settle down and become oblivious to the vehicles following them allowing us to witness the beauty that is four adult cheetahs.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 4

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March 2009

There were two cheetah sightings this month, the male regularly seen accounted for both sightings. one sighting found him just after he had killed a young impala at Mlowati dam, still catching his breath the male rested in the late afternoon before starting to feed as the sun set. Rangers watched as he devoured his hard earned meal, as the sun set the male got increasing nervous of being found in possession and so rangers left him still feeding lest they be the culprit for interfering in a squabble.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 1

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February 2009

Cheetah had a very successful month with there being 10 different cheetah sightings this month. The most interesting of the sightings was when four nervous cheetahs were spotted. The first sighting didn’t last long and neither did the second. By the third sighting the four cheetahs had relaxed down and they turned out to be four male cheetah. The last sighting had all four cheetah chasing zebra at Clarendon open area, a sight not often seen anywhere in the world. The four adult males seemed only to be playing but the zebra took no chances and made for the Kruger with haste. Twice a cheetah was seen at the windmill but he was not relaxed, the older relaxed male was seen several times at Clarendon and the surrounding open areas.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 7

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January 2009

Cheetah viewing this month started very slow but became excellent towards the end of the month. The single cheetah was seen a couple of times in near the Clarendon region, once with a Kudu kill which promptly got stolen by the Newington male. But towards the end of the month 4-sub adult cheetah were seen up at Clarendon dam itself. This was very exciting but unfortunately these cheetah were nervous and probably from the Kruger region. They were seen several times and seemed to be relaxing down. Hopefully these animals will develop a territory this side and we will have good cheetah viewing.

Number of different Cheetahs encountered : 7