The Lion Park - Pretoria, South Africa

The Lions Den, Lions Den, Lion Den, Lions, Thee lion Park - The Lion Park, Cheetah Safari Park, Pretoria, South Africa
David when he was a young boy with a cheetah named Rippa in Pretoria, South Africa

Cheetahs have always been David's favorite animal. When he was a young boy he read several books on them and became very fascinated with them. He knew from reading about them that they were very mild mannered and easily tamed, so it was a great thrill for him to finally get up close with a full grown one (see pictures below). David grew up abroad with his mother, who was a U.S. State Department Foreign Service employee of 33 years posted at various U.S. Embassies all over the world. One of their posts was in Kinshasa, Zaire in Africa (Now called the Democratic Republic Of The Congo). While on vacation in South Africa David got to meet a cheetah named Rippa. When David first met Rippa he was lying up against the fenced enclosure that he was kept in. He looked very gentle so David sat down beside him. Within a few minutes David gathered up the courage to stick my hands through the fence and pet him. He wasn't aware at that point that Rippa was a pet that was actually used in a mattress commercial in South Africa. Rippa just laid there purring and licking David's hands like a house cat as he petted him and scratched his ears. Rippa did however practically lick David'shand raw in one spot with his coarse tongue. The owners of the park saw David and gave him some raw hot-dogs to feed Rippa, and then let him go inside with Rippa and pet him. After they realized David wasn't nervous being around Rippa they asked him and his mother if they would like to go on the feed wagon to feed the lions and other cheetahs that they had in large enclosures. Not exactly sure what they were getting themselves into they said SURE! They told them to get in the back of the VW bus, that was used as a feed wagon. The middle seat had been taken out and chunks of meat were thrown on the floor in front of us. Feeling sort of like a side dish, off they went to go feed the lions and cheetahs. Please click on ENTER The Lions Den to see pictures of this. Enter

Cheetah Facts: Genus & Species - Acinonyx jubatus Family - Felidae Order - Carnivora Swahili Name - Duma The word cheetah comes from the Hindu word Chita, meaning spotted one. The cheetah is the fastest mammal on earth. It can reach speeds up to 65 - 70 mph over a short distance (300 yards). It can accelerate to 50 mph in 2.5 seconds. At three seconds it has reached it's top speed. At full stretch in pursuit of it's prey it can cover almost 33' in a single stride. It can follow prey very closely, even at high speeds, and can change direction in midair chasing zigzagging quarry. After a hard chase it can be near exhaustion, it's body temperature raised to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and rate of breathing increased by ten times to 150 breathes a minute,and is unable to move, protect or eat its catch. It takes it a full thirty minutes for it to cool down and regain it's normal breathing rate.    History - The cheetah evolved about 5.5 million years ago along with the golden cats and cougars. Lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars evolved about 1.6 million years ago. The oldest fossil place it in North America in what is now Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming. It was common throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and North America until the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, when massive climatic changes caused large numbers of mammals to disappear. Body - The cheetah has a slender, long-legged body. It has a small head with high-set eyes. Black "tear marks", which run from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth, keep the sun out of its eyes and aid in hunting. It has weak jaws and small teeth compared to the other big cats - the price it pays for speed. To run really fast requires lots of oxygen and to breathe in lots of oxygen the cheetah needs very large nasal passages, this leaves no space for the long roots required to anchor big teeth. And thus it is not able to fight larger predators to protect its food or young. The cheetah's flexible spine, oversized liver, enlarged heart, increased lung capacity, and thin muscular body make this cat the swiftest hunter in Africa. Weight - Males: 63 - 143 lbs                  Females: 46 - 139 lbs Length -  Males: 68" - 88" nose to tail                   Females: 67" - 93" nose to tail Shoulder height - Males: 29" - 37"                                  Females: 26" - 33" Tail - The long tail helps balance the cheetah's body as it twists and turns at very high speeds. Claws - The cheetah is often quoted as having non-retractile claws. This is not true. Most cats have sheaths of skin that the claws retract back into when not in use. The cheetah has no such modification, so the claws are always visible, although they can still be retracted. However they tend to become dull since they are always out. Because of this cheetahs are not very good tree climbers. The claws work like a runners cleats. The equivalent of the thumb, the dew claw on the animals wrist, is used when it gets close to its prey. The cat will side-swipe the prey with a fore-leg and hook it with the dew claw causing the animal to tumble over; the cheetah is then able to grab the throat and suffocate the creature as its jaws are not strong enough to give a crushing bite. When cheetahs were used for hunting, if an animal had a blunt dew claw, it was not as successful at bringing down the animal it was set against according to hunting records of Indian nobles.   Coat - Its coat is tan with small, round, black spots, and the fur is coarse and short. The coat provides camouflage for this daytime hunter, breaking up its outline among the tall grass. They are very easy to distinguish from the other African spotted cat, the leopard, because they look so different. They have spots, whereas the leopard has rosettes. The cheetah is much smaller and thinner, and its legs are longer and very thin, where the leopard is much heavier and more muscular. The cheetah's head and muzzle is more rounded and smaller than the leopards, and the leopard can jump up in trees and stalk on the ground, whereas the cheetah is restricted to staying on the ground. Sound - Cheetah sounds include purrs, bleats, barks, growls, hisses and chirps - but no ROAR-R-R!! Many of their sounds are totally unlike those of any other cat. Chirping: like a bird's chirp or a dog's yelp - an intense chirp that can be heard a mile away! Click here to hear the sound of a cheetah - Mating Season - Throughout the year Gestation Period - 90 - 95 days Number Of Young - Up to 9, but usually 3 - 5. Cheetah cubs are born with long gray fur. Some naturalists think that this mimics the ratel, a fierce relative of the badger that few animals dare attack.        Prey - Cheetahs eat small antelope - Springbok, Steenbok, Duickers, Impala and Gazelle, the young of larger animals - Warthog, kudu, Hartebeest, Oryx, Roan and Sable, as well as game birds and rabbits. Their favorite is the Thompson's Gazelle which is common on the east African plains. Cheetahs are very picky eaters and unlike the other big cats will not eat carrion (Decaying meat). They need to eat 6 pounds of meat a day. Hunting (Chase, trip, bite) - While most cats are nocturnal predators, the cheetah is primarily diurnal, hunting in early morning and late afternoon. Since it depends on sight rather than smell, it likes to scan the countryside from a tree limb or the top of a termite mound. The cheetah stalks it's prey to within 100 yards or so, then starts it's sprint. With each giant stride it gains on the fleeing gazelle. When it is close enough it lashes out at the gazelle's hind legs with a clawed paw. Knocked off balance, the gazelle stumbles to the ground and the cat leaps in to kill. In a split second it has the gazelle by the throat, its jaws clamped tightly in a suffocating bite. Their success rate at hunting is slightly better than 70%, which is higher than most of the other larger predators. Cheetahs, though having a high success rate, will often lose their kill to other carnivores like lions, leopards, hyenas and hunting dogs. All four species will also kill cheetahs and their young. Cheetahs are not aggressive and prefer flight to fight than risk being injured, which would make them unable to hunt.    Range - Not long ago cheetahs inhabited an area from North Africa to India, but they are now commonly found only in sub-Saharan Africa (south of the Sahara Dessert). Their range includes sparse sub-desert plains, medium and long-grass plains. They need an environment with bushes, tall grass, and other large plants in order to hide from predators. In 1975 there were approximately 30,000 cheetahs in Africa. Today there are 9 - 12,000 left in the wild in small populations in Africa (the most in Namibia). Throughout Africa, cheetahs are often pushed out of wildlife reserves due to increased competition from other, more dominant predators. Therefore, a large percentage of the remaining cheetahs are outside of protected areas, where they are in greater conflict with humans, and in greater danger.       Past Distribution     Present Distribution Subspecies -There are seven subspecies of cheetah; five in Africa and two in Asia. The five subspecies in Africa are: Acinonyx jubatus jubatus - southern Africa, 500 individuals. Acinonyx jubatus raineyi - Kenya, total with next three subspecies is less than 3,000. Acinonyx jubatus ngorongorensis - Tanzania and Republic Of The Congo Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii - Nigeria to Somalia Acinonyx jubatus hecki - Algeria The two subspecies in Asia are: Acinonyx jubatus raddei - Caspian Sea area, extremely rare, thought to be extinct. Acinonyx jubatus venaticus - India and Middle East, becoming more rare, as few as 50 in the wild. European and Asian royalty have hunted it to the point of near extinction. Today they exist in small isolated groups, in northeastern Iran. The Khosh Yeilagn Protected Area in Iran is thought to contain the highest population of Asiatic cheetah.   Asiatic Cheetah in Iran    Young Asiatic cheetah crouching in the snow. Iran is the only place  within cheetah range where it snows in winter.     Saharan cheetah King cheetah - A genetic variation of the normal cheetah with heavy black markings and larger spots. It is not a separate species as once speculated. There are approximately 35 living in captivity. The last one that was seen in the wild was in 1975.       King Cheetah Socialization - Two groups exist in wild populations: the family group and males. Males, often brothers, usually form a coalition of 2 or 3; only rarely will a male live alone. This coalition will live and hunt together for life claiming a range which may overlap several female territories. Young males seek out an area at a great distance from their parent; sometimes as far as 300 miles (482 kilometers). The average size of male territories is 37.4 square kilometers. If another male enters the territory of an established group, a fight may start, sometimes resulting in the death of the intruder. Females, however, usually occupy the same range as their mother although ALL females are solitary except when they have a litter. Average female home ranges extend to 833 square kilometers. Males and females mix only to mate: a female raises her cubs alone. The female is not aggressive to others of her kind, preferring retreat to attack. Male cheetahs mark trees to mark out territories. Kind of a "message center" a male cheetah will come to a particular tree to determine what other cheetahs are in the area, and a female cheetah will come to the tree to see if there are any eligible males available for mating. With all these cheetahs in these trees, they've become known as "play trees". Life span - Up to 21 years in captivity, probably no more than 12 years in the wild. Current Status & Threat - The primary reason for the cheetah's decline is shrinking range due to habitat loss all over Africa. Drastic increases in human population and proliferation of domestic animals has led to loss of habitat and prey, and conflict with man. Increased livestock in arid areas compete with wildlife for limited grazing, further reducing prey available for the cheetah to hunt. The cheetah, being very sensitive to human disruption in its surroundings, has a more difficult time adapting to the presence of man than other cats. Many people fear large predators and carnivores and respond by eliminating them. People incorrectly view the cheetah as a wanton killer of livestock and wild game, while in reality, the amount of damage to domestic stock is exaggerated and usually caused by a few problem animals and inadequate farming practices. Ranchers and farmers often see cheetah as pests or vermin. Stock losses to predators are greater where the natural prey base has been eliminated or reduced. Past capture of wild cheetah for private use has led to the near extinction of the Asian population. Cheetahs don't breed well in captivity and removal of individuals reduces genetic diversity in the wild. Though the cheetah's skin was never in demand like the leopard's, during the 1960s, 1, 500 cheetah skins entered the U.S. every year to be made into coats, shoes and handbags. In 1972, one furrier in New York City was found with nearly 2, 000 cheetah pelts. Because it is low in the predator hierarchy, the cheetah faces competition from other predators and does not do well in parks and reserves with large lion and hyena populations. As a result, most cheetahs live outside protected areas. Inter specific competition with other large predators takes the form of direct predation on cubs, occasional killing of adults, and loss of kills. Being a daytime hunter, the cheetah is an easier target than other predators for harassment by tourists. In many parks and reserves, tourist vehicles routinely disrupt cheetah hunts.     As Pets - The Sumerians were the first people known to tame cheetahs while the Egyptians actually deified them. Marco Polo noted that many were kept as pets in the Orient, far beyond their native range. Three historical figures are documented as having pet cheetahs: Genghis Khan, Akbar the Great of India and Charlemagne. During his 45 year reign (1555-1600 AD) Akbar reportedly kept 1,000 cheetahs and attempted to breed them. But, for all his efforts, only 1 litter was produced. Cheetahs are easily tamed and can even be taught to play games like "fetch". But they cannot be housebroken; even a wild cheetah will soil its resting place since it is very mobile and has no true lair. Sportsmen once used them for coursing - hunting by sight as opposed to scent. Typically the hooded cheetah was carried on horseback or in a cart. When the hunted animal came near the hood was removed and the cheetah released. If the cheetah then caught the animal it was rewarded with some small part of the prey or a dish of blood. In national parks where they get used to seeing people they have been known to actually jump up on top of vehicles entering the park. A hunting animal may even commandeer a roof to sight prey. The future for Africa's high-speed cat depends largely on people's attitudes. Predators such as the cheetah play an important role in the ecosystem. They prey on animals that are sick and weak, and ensure the strong genes survive. This actually helps keep the herd strong and healthy.   Sources: Lion Park - Pretoria, South Africa Hunters & Hunted Of The Savannah - World Of Wildlife National Geographic Cheetahs by Luke Hunter Cheetah Conservation Fund - CCF Wildlife Conservation Network - WCN Cheetah Outreach DeWildt Research & Breeding Center For ways to help support the Cheetah Conservation Fund and help protect the cheetah please go to: http://www.cheetah.org/

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