The De Wildt Cheetah Centre was established in 1971 with the aim of breeding endangered species. Over the past two decades the Centre's efforts have resulted in the major achievement of breeding what was once a threatened species, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). Over the years, nearly 600 cheetah cubs have been born at De Wildt - a dramatic contrast to the days when the cheetah population of South Africa was estimated at a mere 700.

While the cheetah project was the base from which the Centre launched its conservation ethic, it soon widened to include other rare and endangered animal species such as wild dog, brown hyaena, serval, suni antelope, blue and red duiker, bontebok, riverine rabbit and vultures - including the very rare Egyptian vulture. Many of these have been successfully bred for later reintroduction into the wild, thus helping to repopulate areas where such species have disappeared or are no longer abundant.

Mission
To conserve, breed and wherever possible, reintroduce indigenous endangered species back into their natural habitat. To educate the younger generation to recognise and appreciate the flora and fauna of their country and to value their natural heritage.

Aims:

• To breed rare and endangered species.
• To support scientific investigations into all aspects of these species.
• To promote public awareness - particularly amongst the younger generation - of the pressing need for wildlife preservation: to afford visitors to the Centre the opportunity of viewing endangered species in natural surroundings and at close quarters.
• To continue to play a role in conservation biology by helping to maintain adequate gene pools or rare and endangered species.
• To generate income to support existing and future breeding projects at the Centre.
• Where feasible, to re-establish endangered wildlife species into areas where they once occurred naturally.

Staffing and Management
The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre is owned and run by Ann van Dyk, acknowledged as a world authority on cheetah. She employs a staff of 24 men and women to help with the administration of the Centre. Providing further assistance is a management committee consisting of 10 honorary members: among them are wildlife veterinarians, zoologists and dedicated supporters - they all contribute time, effort and invaluable expertise.

The Centre is a privately owned, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, funded by self-endeavour and sponsorship. It plays a vital role in the preservation of endangered southern African wildlife species and in the education of young people - the conservationists of tomorrow.

The Early Years

As is true of most such enterprises, De Wildt is ultimately the product of the obsession and the commitment of one person. In the late 1940's Godfrey and Catherine van Dyk, both general practitioners in Pretoria and nearing retirement age, decided to buy a country property as a weekender. In 1950 they found what they were looking for only 40km from Pretoria: a property of some 65ha, of which a third was orchards and two-thirds was rocky hillside covered in natural vegetation and still supporting a reasonable representation of the local fauna. Its name: De Wildt.

Of the five Van Dyk children, the teenage Ann (the second youngest) welcomed the farm venture with the greatest enthusiasm, and immediately envisaged herself as a daughter of the soil producing barrowloads of flowers, fruit and vegetables. Before long Godfrey and Catherine decided to move to the farm permanently, along with Ann and her younger brother Reginald. A short time later Ann's eldest brother, Godfrey junior, decided to give up his medical studies and also take to the farming life. Under the Van Dyk stewardship the farm gradually became a viable enterprise, and after the deaths of their parents Ann and Godfrey added an intensive egg-producing operation which eventually housed 100 000 laying hens.

Ann had always had immense compassion for stray or injured animals, and as her concern became known in the neighbourhood De Wildt began to accumulate a menagerie: domestic species such as horses and mules, of course, but also a hyrax, a dingo and a puma. Then in October 1968 came a phone call from a farmer who knew of two cheetah cubs needing a home - were the Van Dyks interested? Where they! Aware that they needed a permit to hold native wildlife, they decided nevertheless to secure the cheetahs as quickly as they could, and worry about the paperwork afterwards. One room of the house became the cheetah's home base but they were given free range of the house and garden, and quickly seemed to take it all in their stride. A phone call to enquire about permits, however, resulted instead in a prompt visit from Transvaal Nature Conservation officers, who advised them that by acquiring the animals they had breached the law, confiscated the cubs and delivered them to the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria.

The Zoo meanwhile, had been in the course of developing a greater emphasis on captive breeding, and had begun to achieve some notable successes with such species as white rhino and scimitar oryx. They soon reached the point of recognising that their scope was limited by the metropolitan site that they occupied, and were thinking about the possibility of opening op a new location or locations which would concentrate on the conservation and breeding of endangered species, including cheetah.

Godfrey made an appointment to talk to the director of the Zoo, along the lines of: you've got cheetahs and you need land to breed them on; we've got land to breed them on but we've got no cheetahs. Within a couple of weeks Frank Brand, the then Zoo director, and Hannes Koen, chairman of the Zoo's board of trustees, visited De Wildt and were conducted on a tour by Ann and Godfrey...Ann could hardly believe that her most cherished dream seemed to be coming true. And indeed it did.

On April 16 1971, the De Wildt Cheetah Breeding Centre, in the Magaliesberg foothills west of Pretoria, officially opened for business with nine cheetahs.

De Wildt Today

Today the Centre can look back with satisfaction on a job well done in ensuring the survival of Acinonyx jubatus, successfully breeding the king cheetah in captivity for the first time in the world. While the cheetah project was the base from which Ann launched her conservation ethic, it soon widened to include other endangered animal species, such as brown hyaenas, wild dogs, servals, suni antelope and riverine rabbits.

But the successes have also been tempered with sadness and losses over the years. Soon after the centre opened, wrote Ann in her book The Cheetahs of De Wildt: "I realised how fortunate I was, but wondered if I would ever really get to know them. Would our cheetah breeding aims and ambitions be fulfilled? Would we be able to discover why they had never bred successfully in captivity?"

These, and a myriad other questions, were to be answered by dint of hard work, long hours, help and friendship from what Ann found were many other kindred spirits in the conservation world. Among these were people such as Professor John Skinner, then head of Tuks department of zoology and director of the university's Mammal Research Institute; Frank Brand and Hannes Koen; Professors Brough Coubrough and Henk Bertschinger of Onderstepoort, Dr Howard Pettifer, a then Transvaal Department of Nature Conservation field officer and researcher and zoo director Willie Labuschagne.

After a number of stillborn births, the initial breakthrough came in March 1975 when the first live cubs were born at De Wildt. A search of the enclosure the next day revealed what were initially thought to be dead newborn cubs, but on closer inspection they were found to be barely alive and were rushed off the mountain enclosure to Ann's house. Here a cheetah nursery was set up and Ann gained her first experience of raising weak cubs. This was to be repeated many times over the years with ailing, orphaned and deserted cubs.

Then came a cat flu epidemic which again threatened to put a stop to the breeding programme but quarantine, professional veterinary assistance and a then-new "live" vaccine brought matters back to normal. Ann's brother Godfrey died in September 1976 and she decided to continue with the cheetah project and also expand it. At this stage De Wildt was closely allied to the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria and Zoo trustees were fully supportive of her efforts.

This led to the wild dog breeding project in 1978, which has also been successful. The latest De Wildt dogs to be released into the wild were relocated to Madikwe Game Reserve. A year prior to this, vultures had found a feeding site purpose-built at De Wildt. Its initial location was unsuitable for these large raptors but moving it to a more open stretch of land solved the problem and today many vultures from the Magaliesberg can be seen gliding on thermals above the vulture restaurant.

In 1981 there was another momentous breakthrough at De Wildt when the first ever king cheetah to be bred in captivity was born. Thinking in years gone by was that the king was a sub-species of Acinonyx jubatus and it was named Acinonyx rex by a Major A L Cooper who came across it in what was Rhodesia in 1926. The arrival of a captive king at De Wildt proved it was an abnormally marked variant of Acinonyx jubatus. Since then a number of other kings have been bred at De Wildt and some exported to zoos worlwide.

September 1986 saw extensive damage caused to the operation by a hail and thunderstorm which had De Wildt's hospital clogged with injured and frozen animals and birds. After the storm passed a number of dead cheetahs and other animal carcasses were found. But there was a brighter side. Six male cheetahs had escaped from a hail-damaged enclosure, found their way into a large impala camp and killed a ewe. This proved, once again, captive-bred cheetahs do not lose the hunting instinct.

In 1985, again in conjunction with the National Zoological Gardens, De Wildt started a riverine rabbit breeding programme. This has been successful to the extent that a number of these endangered mammals were relocated to their natural Karoo habitat. They are being monitored in the Karoo National Park outside Beaufort West and reports indicate they have settled well.

By the mid-80s the De Wildt name had become synonymous with cheetahs and many people wanted to visit the Centre and see these and other animals and birds. A decision was taken to allow groups in on guided tours which, in addition to providing an environmental education opportunity, would also bring extra money. One such tour, in the summer of 1990, saw a veld fire caused by the careless dropping of either a match or lighted cigarette. "For five hours two fire engines, friends, zoo staff, neighbours and my own team fought a losing battle as 6m flames devoured everything. All enclosure gates were opened to free frightened animals. Some could not be accounted for and others were already badly burnt. Cubs sought refuge in grass covered shelters that were alight and were severely scorched. Others climbed fences and disappeared. "The next morning we took stock. A silent black path of land was all that was left of the cheetah camps. Cheetahs and brown hyenas were wandering in the impala camp. Bewildered and still in shock they seemed unable to comprehend what had happened. We lost one breeding cheetah and four vultures that sad day. Fourteen animals, including cubs, were treated for burns," Ann wrote. Appeals via the Press and TV led to donations of cash and goods and Ann's indomitable spirit soon had De Wildt back up and running. Today a few blackened tree trunks stand as mute reminders of the devastation.

The endangered species at De Wildt have been successfully bred for later redistribution in the wild, thus helping to repopulate areas where such species have disappeared or are no longer abundant. In time this conservation biology role will become more and more important as it becomes necessary to build up and maintain adequate gene pools.

In 1988 Ann van Dyk received the coveted gold medal award of the South African Nature Foundation for her valuable contribution towards captive breeding of cheetah.