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THE
STORY CONTINUES - ANN'S BOOK LAUNCH
 The
De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust was proud to launch the second edition
of The Cheetahs of De Wildt at its breeding and rehabilitation centre
on Friday 19 October 2007.
To mark this special occasion,
Ann and Byron – De Wildt’s first cheetah ambassador –
were on hand to lay the inaugural prints in the cornerstone of the Ann
van Dyk Conservation Walk.
Intentions are for this walk
to become a monument to individuals making a difference in conservation
and it is hoped that many more great conservationists will be honoured
with future print laying ceremonies.
The Cheetahs of de Wildt
is currently available at a cost of R295 from the curio shops at De
Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre and at De Wildt Shingwedzi Ranch.
Copies can also be posted to you at a total cost of R325 (Domestic)
and R495 (Overseas). This includes postage, packaging and insurance.
Should you be interested
in purchasing a copy please contact Vanessa or Zeta by email on cheetah@dewildt.org.za
or by telephone on +27 12 504 1921.
It has been more than fifteen
years since Ann van Dyk first told the story of her lifelong battle
to save the cheetah from the verge of extinction with the release of
her book – The Cheetahs of De Wildt.
The epic began way back in
the late Sixties, when the animal crazy Ann and her brother Godfrey
inadvertently broke the law by purchasing two cheetah cubs. The cubs
were their pride and joy, but were soon confiscated by authorities.
However, the innocent transgression
laid the foundation for what has since grown into a world renowned wildlife
conservation initiative – The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust.
The Cheetahs of De Wildt
is a chronicle of Ann’s many setbacks and triumphs in working
with this endangered carnivore. The book gives voice to many instances
of joy and rapture encountered in her quest, as well as laying bare
the occasions of heartache and tragedy.
Ann’s voice is potent
as she tells of the birth of De Wildt’s first cubs. You can feel
the essence of her accomplishment and hope for the future marked by
this very special occasion. Even the desperate struggle to save Jill’s
cubs after the inexperienced cheetah mother abandoned them fills you
with hopeful emotion.
Hope gives way to an almost
tangible anguish elsewhere in the story, as Ann paints a vividly telling
story of the devastating aftermath caused by a hailstorm that ripped
De Wildt to shreds. Another example is her grief and anger at the recklessness
that resulted in a massive fire in 1990, causing severe damage and trauma
to her beloved animals.
Now Ann van Dyk continues
her story into the new millennium with the release of the second edition
of The Cheetahs of de Wildt. This updated story contains several additional
chapters outlining the changing focus of De Wildt future conservation
vision and mission.
While De Wildt has played
a significant role in ensuring that the cheetah is saved from extinction,
Ann and the Trust have realised that breeding alone is not enough.
The second edition adds to
the poignancy of the first book by providing a glimpse of what is being
done to ensure future sustainability through education and awareness.
Not only wild cheetah populations, but a holistic conservation ethic
aimed at preserving our entire natural heritage.
 CHEETAH
CHAMP
Cheetahs and GTL
– Superior performance naturally.
Sasol Chevron’s business
is GTL diesel – the cleanest high performance diesel in the world.
Fuelled by GTL diesel, the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust conservation
programme can track cheetah across South Africa with lower vehicle emissions.
Using natural gas and not crude oil, GTL is one of the most advanced
fuel technologies in the energy business and success demands a blend
of expertise, experience and partnerships.
To raise awareness for cheetah conservation Bryan Habana offered to
race a cheetah. Of course the cheetah won – but in our books Bryan
is a true champ on the rugby field and as a person who supports our
work.
THE PLIGHT
OF THE HONEY BADGER
 The
honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is sometimes better known as the ratel.
Its distribution is widespread and general, though it excludes coastal
Namibia and the central areas of the region.
Few people have ever seen
a live honey badger mainly because it is nocturnal and by day sleeps
in an underground burrow. Usually single animals are found, though sometimes
pairs too. Seldom are family groups seen, suggesting that offspring
fend for themselves from a very early age. It is an extremely aggressive
animal and will attack with great ferocity. Those familiar with European
badgers often equate the two species, though this is an incorrect supposition
for the former possess none of the aggressive behavioural traits of
the ratel. Not only is the honey badger completely unafraid to attack
opponents much larger than itself, it produces blood-curdling snarls
and throaty growls that put all off (except the deaf).
There is a good deal of colour
variation amongst honey badgers, though in the main they are black,
with a white to grey mantle which extends from the centre of the top
of the head, along the full extent of the back, ending at the tip of
the tail. The honey badger has a rolling gait, suited to its rotund
body, short legs and inward-facing front paws. Extremely powerful and
long claws on its five-digit feet are used for food procurement, digging
and defence. It has formidable teeth, a strong jaw bite, and tenacity
unmatched in other mammals its size. When attacking, it goes for the
genitals and groin area of the opponent. So all in all, this little
mammal is one of the region’s toughest and feared fighters.
As its name suggest, honey
forms a large part of its diet. Other food is in the form of small rodents,
birds, eggs, poultry, eggs, insects, reptiles, as well as fruit and
other vegetable matter. As a night feeder, it is often the raider of
farm produce, such as poultry and honey, and for this reason it has
been eradicated in densely farmed or populated areas.
For obvious reasons, this
little though ferocious mammal is seen by many as an unwanted species.
Farmers need to protect their produce, and honey badgers are slowly
disappearing. They have no natural predator – other than man as
exterminator. The result is a dwindling population that surely will
face extinction.
Why do we keep honey badgers
at De Wildt? Mainly because hey are an important educational attraction
as so few are ever seen in the wild.
Animals kept in captivity
become tame fairly easily. They can be handled when young, but later
this is not possible as their naturally aggressive behaviour surfaces,
at times unpredictably. This demands that they be kept well away from
human and other animal contact. The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre
currently takes care of three honey badgers: one male named Blizzard,
and two females Chanel and Amapajama. Blizzard is an extremely large
albino, sent to De Wildt after he was captured in the Cape raiding honey
hives. At about 150 cm long he is almost double the normal size of a
honey badger. Because of his size and power, it is not possible to group
him with the other two, both of which are normal-coated and less robust.
Their camps are alongside and there is frequent interaction between
the three.
We would love to hear from
anyone interested in adopting one of these feisty little characters.
WILD CHEETAH
UPDATE
 Whilst
most ranchers are proving extremely cooperative with our efforts in
cheetah conservation, there are individuals out there who have no respect
or feeling whatsoever for these majestic animals and will go as far
as to try and trade them on the black market. In some cases and usually
due to unethical and cruel capture methods, cheetahs get injured and
are consequently no longer saleable to illegal traders.
It is at this point that
the De Wildt Cheetah Tracker Team is called to collect the cheetah and
what is worse is that the rancher still expects to be compensated from
the National Cheetah Conservation Fund.
One particular incident as
portrayed in Deon Cilliers’ diary was when he received a call
from an official at the North West Nature Conservation Department informing
him that a cheetah had been captured in the far area of the Kalahari.
Deon immediately took the road to Groot Marico, a town halfway between
De Wildt and Bray. Here he met with the conservation officer and a heavily
sedated male cheetah. She informed Deon that, according to rancher who
had captured him, the cheetah’s leg was injured the day before.
Barely alive, the cheetah
was rushed to veterinarian Peter Caldwell where his back leg was found
to be badly broken. It took a four hour operation to repair the damage
with a plate. Having operated and closely examined the cheetah, it is
Peter’s opinion that the leg had been broken for at least seven
days, and that the cheetah was in excruciating pain. X-rays of the cheetah’s
chest also showed that he had sustained a heavy blow to his side - one
of his lungs had collapsed and he had an air pocket under his heart.
All indications were that this unfortunate animal was man handled, most
probably hit or run over by a vehicle.
Another area of concern is
the news that certain Game Capture Operators have realised that cheetahs
can be chased into game capture bomas by helicopter. We recently received
a young female and her three 10 month old cubs from the Lephalale area
of Limpopo. The ranch owner then had the audacity to say that he would
use the money received from the Compensation Fund to pay the helicopter
pilot. This form of game capture is illegal and totally unethical –
needless to say, said rancher will not be compensated! The female and
her cubs have been safely released onto a 20,000 Hectare ranch not far
from where she was captured, pending funding of a GPS collar for her.
To end on a brighter note,
two male cheetahs have recently been relocated to Mokolo Nature Reserve
in the Limpopo together with a beautiful female named Isis. They are
currently in holding enclosures but will be released into the main reserve
in about two months. A beautiful male leopard named Nsele-Prince was
also relocated to a game ranch near Vaalwater.
TRADITIONAL
MEDCINE A THREAT TO VULTURES
 For
centuries the use of vulture body parts has been an important element
of traditional medicine, particularly in Southern Africa. Along with
other factors including habitat destruction, poisoning, electrocution
and collisions with man made structures; the harvesting of vultures
for this purpose has played a significant role in the population decline
of these magnificent birds.
In Africa it is widely believed
that disease and misfortune are not chance events but rather are influenced
by vengeful individuals or ancestral spirits. Consequently, traditional
medicine is of great importance to these cultures, and is regularly
used in the place of or even alongside pharmaceutical drugs. Vultures,
when consumed, are believed to impart psychic powers, prescience and
increased intelligence. They are also used by traditional healers to
cure various disorders such as headaches.
The pressures of modern living,
urbanisation, unemployment and the HIV epidemic have all contributed
to an increased demand for traditional remedies. This has led to higher
demand for the animal and plant matter used in such medicines, and these
materials are often acquired by illegal means. Vultures in particular
are killed using shotguns, traps and most destructively of all, poisoning.
This is because using poison kills indiscriminately and will usually
kill a large number of vultures – sometimes far more than required.
Small vulture populations
and subsequent breeding difficulties mean that this wanton destruction
must not continue unchecked. It is estimated that most species could
be locally wiped out within the next fifteen to thirty years. The loss
of the vultures will of course have dire consequences on the ecological
front but it will also affect certain areas of the country economically.
For example R250,000 is currently generated by the vulture hide at Giant’s
Castle in the Drakensberg – this income and the jobs created by
such tourist attractions could be lost. Additionally the disappearance
of our vulture populations would inevitably affect cultural beliefs
and traditions.
EXTINCTIONS
ON THE RISE
 Since
its creation in 1948, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has brought
together over 10,000 scientists from more than 180 countries. Its main
mission is to encourage and help societies throughout the world to conserve
biodiversity and to ensure that their use of natural resources is ecologically
sustainable.
One of the things that the
IUCN does is to regularly update its Red List of Threatened Species.
This is a searchable online database which outlines the global status
and supporting data on about 40,000 species. The IUCN Red List places
these species in the following threat categories, listed in descending
order of risk:
• Extinct or Extinct
in the Wild.
• Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable – species
threatened with global extinction.
• Near Threatened – species close to the above or species
that would be vulnerable without ongoing conservation efforts.
• Least Concern – species with low risk of extinction.
• Data Deficient – no evaluation due to lack of information.
Every four years the Red
List is analysed and finding published. Main facts to date are quite
alarming with evidence that the number of threatened species is increasing
across every major taxonomic group.
The total number of threatened
species as of May 2006 was 16,119 out of the 40,177 species assessed
that year by the IUCN. Threatened species included familiar animals
such as the polar bear, pygmy hippopotamus, ocean sharks, freshwater
fish and desert gazelles. Just as an example, it is estimated that one
in three amphibians, one in four coniferous trees, one in eight birds
and one in four mammal species are in jeopardy.
Humans are, directly or indirectly,
the main reason for most species’ decline – Habitat destruction
and degradation, over-hunting, unsustainable harvesting, pollution,
disease, climate change and introduction of non-indigenous invasive
species all play a major role.
On a brighter note it is
evident from the list that the status of some species has certainly
improved, proving that conservation efforts do work! What we need now
is more conservation initiatives and a more proactive approach to protecting
our biodiversity worldwide.
 CALLING
HYENA ENTHUSIASTS
For those of you
with an interest in these mysterious and fascinating creatures there
is a new website available at www.hyaenidae.org.
The main aim of the website
is to educate the public about hyenas and how amazing they are both
in terms of their physiology, and of their social structure and interactions.
The site’s emphasis is mainly on the spotted hyena but they are
planning to expand the site to include more information about other
species.
Well worth a visit.
HELP -
AUCTION ITEMS NEEDED!
Our
annual gala dinner is taking place at Magaliespark on 1 December 2007.
This is De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust’s opportunity to recognise
and thank some of the people who generously support our cause and consequently
help us to continue with our conservation efforts.
In order to raise additional funds we do hold an auction on the evening
of the dinner and would be most grateful for items that could be sold.
Should you be able to assist us with this please contact executive director
Vanessa Bezuidenhout on (012) 504 1921.
VANESSA
VISITING THE UK
Vanessa
will be visiting the UK in February next year, spreading the De Wildt
Message to an even wider audience.
She
will be doing presentations and giving talks all over the country, and
she would love invitations to speak to any groups of people who may
be interested. She would also be very happy to meet with any of our
adoptive parents in the UK.
FROM
THE ADOPTIONS DESK
The adoption program
continues to flourish and our heartfelt gratitude once again goes out
to all our amazing parents both new and long term.
Schools from all over the world have played an important role in our
adoption program this year. To mention just a few examples:
• The Kindergarten Group at Redhill School, organised by Liezl
Smith
• Alistair Ridyard and Form Three at Rathgar Junior School in
Dublin who raised enough funds for a diamond level adoption
• Melissa Jordaan and the Hamburg International School who through
a huge and very imaginative campaign raised enough money for four diamond
adoptions.
• Cindy Seekins and the Grades 3, 4 & 5 at Center Drive School
in Maine, USA who raised enough money to adopt three of our cheetahs.
• Sarah Elworthy and Kayleah Clarke at St Mary’s Junior
School, who have not only adopted on an individual basis but also on
behalf of their school.
• The Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles.
• Laerskool Marble Hall here in South Africa.
There are too many to mention but I would like to extend our sincere
thanks to all those children out there who have taken it upon themselves
to show an interest in conservation and to go as far as to get their
school peers involved in fund-raising.
New Parents
Diamond Level
Brett & Michelle Whelan, Cassandra Allberry, Stainless Projects
cc
Platinum Level
Madison Tilles & Dylan Moran, Jade Bryan, Jackie Riddell, St Mary’s
Junior School, Arlene & Mac Harvey, Matthew & Amy Farago, Robert
McBurnie, Mark Shea & Selena Swart
Gold Level
Janice Stark, Caroline Turner-Russell, Heather & Bob Harvey
Silver Level
Chloe Dalton, Daniel Cripps & Yuki Chippendale, Lynn Fisher, Thia
& Pieter van der Westhuizen, Florence Anne Potgieter x2, In Memory
of Peter, The Burch Family, Martine Ossewaarde
Renewals
Diamond Level
David & Lorraine Pring, Mary Beth Ottum, Erik Lear, Penelope Gracie
Platinum
Bianca Kabrun, Clive & Denise Kneale, Bob & Lyn Standen, Marco
& Mirjam Haenraets, Henri Seriese
Gold
Jan Stephens, Penny & Rudyard Harrison
Silver
Jim Fenwick, Denise Watkins & Res Morgenthaler, Shirley Saunt
Should
you wish to be on our newsletter list please contact us:
Cheetah@dewildt.org.za
We'd love to hear from you!!
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