Malawi Reintroduction - ASHIA CHEETAH CONSERVATION

Enjoy some wonderful footage of the first two cheetah arriving at Waterval, a new pre-release partner of Ashia’s Release & Reintroduction Project and the 65th reserve of the South African Meta-population!
The two young females, originating from the Ann Van Dyk Cheetah Center De Wildt, had accomplished their first step of the pre-release process over the last year at Ashia in Paarl before translocation to Waterval Private Game Reserve near Kimberley, Northern Cape. They spent some time in the acclimatisation boma before the gates finally opened for them on June 8th to a stunning 250 ha practise section where they will first hone their hunting skills and fitness over the next months. To give them the best chances of survival for their final release into the wild, they will undergo further resilience training on an area 5 000ha in size with predator-aware prey.
Arnold and Mariné Neethling, owners of Waterval and Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, as well as Vincent van der Merwe were present to welcome the first cheetah after a long absence of the species in the Kimberley area, a bioregion classified as Eastern Kalahari Bushveld/Savannah.The soon to be introduced permanent founder population on the main Waterval reserve will hopefully mark the start of many healthy litters born on Waterval, thus strengthening the genetic diversity of the Meta-population.
It took a year of preparation for this moment in history to come true and the involvement of many dedicated and passionate people. We want to say thank you to wildlife vet Dr Willem Burger, for being present just in case but especially for introducing us to the Neethling family who have preserved and renatured this amazing piece of land, having biodiversity conservation engrained in their blood.
Late afternoon on the day of their release onto the practise section we located the females fairly quickly with the tracking antenna. We followed them on foot and were thrilled to experience how fast their instincts kicked in as we witnessed them in hot pursuit of impala and springbok.
Both females are fitted with a VHF/GPS collar allowing a passionate monitoring team, Mardene and Boetie Cooper, a close daily monitoring and supplement feeding if needed.
A big thank you also goes to wildlife videographer Jeff Ayliffe for being with us and capturing amazing footage of some special days.
🎥 Jeff Ayliffe
🎥 Marna Smit & Christi-Mri Griessel - ACC
www.ashia.co.za
Instagram: ashia_cheetah_conservation