Wildt Tales, May 2008

There is so much happening and with telephone and e-mail connections being off on an almost daily basis communication with the outside world is not what it should be. We apologise for this and hope this newsletter will bring you news of our activities.

Mission

Striving towards the long term survival
of predators and vultures
which are of conservation concern
outside protected areas
in South Africa

Adopt Me Please!

A beautiful little cub was found abandoned in the Southern Limpopo Province of South Africa. She was rescued and brought to De Wildt where she is receiving very special care. A tiny cub needs intense veterinary supervision. We would like to rewild her and release her on a safe reserve in due course. We have named her Ann in recognition of a formidable and greatly loved “first lady”, Ann van Dyk.
Her adoption cost is R30,000 per annum. If you are interested in a part or total adoption please write to Claudine on cheetah@dewildt.org.za.

Toe Amputation

The captive release project has been going well and female Phoenix was released and had made one kill! Then she started to limp… Luckily our vet Dr Peter Caldwell was on the reserve that weekend, so he darted her and examined her foot. The diagnosis – a badly broken toe! We brought her back to Pretoria to x-ray and perhaps have an orthopaedic surgeon work on it. But after x-rays and consultation with the orthopaedic surgeon, it was decided that the only option was to amputate her toe. The operation was a success and Phoenix is expected to have a full recovery and be back in the bush in about three weeks. She is definitely going to have an easy track to identify!!

Precious Cargo

Deon Cilliers reports that the Wild Cheetah team recently had to transport a precious cargo consisting of five three week old cheetah cubs to the O.R.Tambo Airport. Three of these cheetah cubs were born by Caesarean section during an emergency operation. These cubs were flown to Cheetah Outreach in Cape Town by British Airways. Cheetah Outreach will be raising and training these cubs as Cheetah Ambassadors for education programs in countries abroad.

Byron turns 6 !!

Beloved cheetah ambassador Byron turns 6 in May. De Wildt’s 1st Education Outreach ambassador has enabled us to reach many thousands of children and adults over the last 4 years. Our Education Outreach Programme has grown significantly and the impact on communities both rural and city is evident. Trees are being planted, recycling projects initiated and most importantly tolerance levels towards predators is increasing.
Thank you Byron and Happy Birthday! If you would like to send Byron a birthday gift in the form of a donation please contact his ‘mom’ Marilyn – Manager of the Outreach Education Programme on email education@dewildt.org.za.

CV of a Scat Sniffing Dog

The Dog:       Diesel
Breed:          Staffordshire Terrier Type
Born:            December 2006
Sex:            Male (castrated)
Colour:         Brindle
KUSA. Nr:    YZ109066
Training: Puppy socialising, basic obedience training, currently A1 agility (contact and non-contact), Grade 4 dog jumping.
General: Diesel is a real character, outgoing and takes things in his stride but inclined to get very excited for the smallest reason. He is extremely driven. He is big for a Staffie at 22kg’s and is referred to at school as the ‘Bicep on Legs’. He is very sociable, loves being the centre of attention and enjoys life’s luxuries like sleeping under a duvet.
SCAT SNIFFING TRAINING
Diesel was trained using positive reinforcement. This means that he got a reward for offering the desired behaviour. Scat from wild cheetahs was collected and placed on the training grounds of McKaynine Training Centre in Johannesburg. Diesel was walked up to the scat, shown it and asked to sit. As soon as he sat, his ball was thrown for him. Within several attempts he was doing it perfectly.
The procedure was then done in a piece of open veld, but still in the urban area. Discrimination testes were carried out using scat from hyaena, African wild cat, caracal, wild dog and leopard. This ensured that Diesel would only indicate cheetah scat.
Several field trials then took place the Thabazimbi district Limpopo. Here we took the dog to known scent marking posts and gave him the opportunity to walk past the posts with every chance of finding the scat.
Several field trips have since been carried out. Both dog and handler are getting efficient with the technique. The dog is travelling well and not getting as excited as he used to on the early trips. He is also able to sleep in strange environments, making working in the same place for several days a lot more pleasant.
WHY COLLECT SCAT?
Diesel can be used to aid our research in several ways.
Firstly, by finding scent marking posts. These are areas that cheetahs frequently use and can be used to set up camera traps for population studies or for setting of trap cages to collar and release cheetahs for range use studies.
Additionally, scat is being collected for prey selection studies. When cheetahs eat, the ingest hair from the prey animals. Every animal species has microscopically characteristic hair structure that can be used to identify the animal that the hair came from. Cheetahs do not scavenge, so any hair found in their scat can be assumed to come from an animal that it killed.
CONCLUSION
Diesel’s training has been very successful and he shows brilliant aptitude for the job. He is very motivated and driven and enjoys his work. Diesel is becoming an integral part of our research team. He has also excelled in the show arena winning a 2nd place in his first dog jumping show and a 1st place in his second agility show. He was also nominated Beginner Agility Dog of the Year at the training centre.

Diesel finds a scent marking post!!!

On a cool Autumn morning Shannon McKay (McKaynine Training Centre), Diesel (cool scat sniffing dog) and Kelly Marnewick (De Wildt Wild Cheetah Project) headed north to Monate Game Lodge for a scat sniffing trip. We were treated like royalty on Monate and they even allowed Diesel to spend the night in the 4 star lodge – what great people!!! The trip was very successful and after many hours of walking, Diesel found a rocky outcrop that the cheetahs were using as a scent marking post. No one knew that the cats were scent marking here, so it was a genuine find!! We were all thrilled! Diesel was very proud of all the scats he found and enthusiastically showed them to us! Diesel worked so well and was confronted with all sorts of wild animals from antelope to giraffe, white rhinos and francolins and he never once showed any inclination to bark at the animals or chase them!

Relocation of African Wild Dogs

Deon Cilliers, Manager of the Wild Cheetah Project reports that De Wildt was recently involved with the relocation of three African Wild Dogs which were born in captivity at De Wildt Cheetah Centre to the Pilanesberg National Park. The captive born females were bonded with the wild Pilanesberg males at De Wildt and we had the privilege of taking them back to the holding facility at Pilanesberg were they will be kept until they are ready for release.

Cheetah Lodge Conference Centre opening

We are thrilled to report that our Conference Centre situated at our Cheetah Lodge is finally open. Thanks to AGA for air-conditioning and Tier One for support with technology requirements.
Our conference centre offers an exclusive touch and a restful and beautiful setting for your corporate break-aways.
The Lodge has 9 en-suite rooms and can sleep 18 people (sharing). The conference room can however accommodate up to 40 delegates.
When you next want to plan a small conference - why not consider us – you will be supporting cheetah and wild dog conservation.

Snippets from the Cheetah Lodge

Sebastiaan, the Dalmation, is our resident host and welcomes all guests at their cars as they arrive. The squirrels have moved closer to the veranda. I first thought they wanted to tease Sebastiaan but it was pointed out to me that they are actually pinching his food – no need to say the squirrels are in excellent condition. If you look at the photograph it is not surprising that they steal food from right under his nose.
As always the home fires are burning and the pots are simmering on the stove.
Elouise Stahr

Special Thanks

The De Wildt Wild Cheetah Project team travelled to the North West Province on the border of the Kalahari to rescue a young female cheetah which was found injured on a gravel road near the Botswana border. Conservationists and farmers from the Bray area in North West Province staged a dramatic rescue operation to get this female cheetah to the De Wildt Cheetah Tracker Project. All indications are that this beautiful cheetah female was hit be a vehicle on purpose on this road and just left as dead next to the road. After spending hours in agony next to the road, cheetah conservation supporters from the Bray area settled her into a safe and warm cheetah transport box. The Provincial Conservation Authority raced out to the farm and collected her, while the De Wildt team travelled from Brits towards the Bray area. The team met the Provincial Conservation Authority near the town of Zeerust and rushed back to Dr Peter Caldwell, consulting veterinarian of De Wildt. Although no external injuries were found on this cheetah female, x-rays clearly showed a severed spinal cord …., she would be paralised due to this injury. Dr Caldwell made the decision to put her to sleep as she would have been in a lot of agony, and would never recover. This is extremely difficult and emotional, but everyone agreed that it was the best option. It is unbelievable that people can simply chase down cheetahs, drive over them, leave them for dead, … just because these cheetahs might predate on a springbuck … This is very sickening, but just emphasizes the importance of the efforts of the Cheetah Tracker in changing attitudes of the farming communities where these cheetahs occur naturally.

Teambuilding

Move over the cheetahs and wild dogs are coming and the hippos are moving out.
Cheetahs are awe inspiring, wild dogs deserve our respect. Experience a team building session with a difference examining the focus and adaptability of the cheetah and the unique communication and co-operation skills of the wild dog pack.
Experienced speaker Vanessa Bezuidenhout, Executive Director of the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust will challenge your team - teach them to look at nature for all their personal and business related solutions and to have fun while doing it.
After a 1 hour presentation - the group will enjoy a game drive where the cheetah and wild dog can be observed and the behaviours discussed be examined in greater detail.
The cheetahs and wild dogs are coming - into your organization, your community, your social circle - and they are hungry, focused and willing to step up. Will your team be there?

Meet the Team

André Neuhoff is De Wildt’s Maintenance Manager. André has one of the most thankless jobs on the farm as is always fixing pipes, fences or building emergency rescue facilities. Recently André received some welcome assistance from MCC, leaders in earthmoving equipment rentals who brought in their bulldozers to fix roads and also build a perimeter fence which will assist with fire breaks.
André has been at De Wildt for 12 years after retiring from a busy building construction company. André has seen many changes and ever increasing expansion. He is married to Sarie, a primary school teacher, who he says is the wind beneath his wings. He has 3 adult sons, 1 daughter and 5 grandchildren.
Andre is a perfectionist and his handy work can be seen everywhere particularly in our newly built conference centre.

From the Adoptions Desk

Once again it has been an incredibly busy time on the adoptions front. We are delighted to welcome a large number of new parents as well as an ever increasing number of renewals. We are thoroughly looking forward to welcoming our visiting parents on 14 June. Thank you all for your incredible support of our amazing animals!

New Parents:

Diamond
Petrus & Analise Buitendag, Gilla Kaplan, Sonelle & Eliot Hall
Platinum
Eva Hurley, Morne Scheepers, Ellen Van Den Assem, Janet, John & Samantha Erasmus x3, Jenny Taylor, Edwin & Sandra Teepe
Gold
Pamela Boeni, Eva Hurley, Penelope Mayson, Corney Carstens, Kerrin Wright, Julie Kapsalis, N Rama Krishna, Claudia Matthews, Karin & James, Meggan Liebenberg
Silver
Dr Jane Duckett, Atticus & Scout, Charlotte & Johan Maartens, Mike & Elena Michalakis, Costas Antoniou, Familie Korten, Corey, Georgia, Maddison & Lachlan Byrne, The Millard Family x4, Amanda Vanlogchem, Brandon Cox, Jonas Hovda, Malin Linnea Hovda, Susan Mogg, Rainer Thieme, Carsten Mollerup, Carol Austin x6, Nicole & Ashlyn Campbell, Naomi & Devin Benheim, Megan & Nicholas Hunt, Olivia Jones, Claudia Bowen, Jun & Wen, Russell Vize, Nathan Sykes, Deon & Mara, Tim Stanley, Farrah Stanley, Akira & Tyler Solomon, Kerry Stanley
Renewals
Diamond
Sandee & Aaron LaPedis, Patricia Myson, Heinz Ritter, Weinversand: tokolosh.de, Gilla Kaplan x2
Platinum
Debra Mallory, Weinversand: tokolosh.de, Charlotte, Martin & Adrien Szul, Jan & Janie Dooms
Gold
John & Elizabeth Wold, The Luther Family, Joshua Neser, Joachim Fischer, Steffani de Jongh, Dr C Sevenster
Silver
Veronique & Tyron Diedericks-Verspaille, Teddi Maclean, Thia & Pieter van der Westhuizen