The N/a'an ku sê Wild Cheetah Release - 15 March 2009

During my 6 weeks here at N/a’an ku se, I have been lucky enough to witness no less than six releases, five of them cheetahs, but none quite like that of Sunday 15th March, writes lucky volunteer, Polly.

Although most bolt as soon as the cage door is opened, it is not unheard of for a cheetah to be slightly wary of leaving his cage once the door is opened. So when our seven-year-old male cheetah stayed put once the door to his capture cage had been opened, none of us were too surprised. We soon realised, however, that this was not momentary confusion, this was complete refusal to leave. We left him for a while to make his own way out, until the sun got too hot to leave him without shade any longer and he was literally tipped out of his cage. Instead of finally running off, our individually minded Kyan, as named by Tracey the kind sponsor of his collar, stayed put, crawling under the shade of the cage to escape the fast rising sun.

We, research expert Flo, and the eight volunteers, stayed put for another two hours before deciding to leave him to his own devices. Returning to a koppie roughly 3km from the release site hours later we were surprised to find our cheetah still lying under the shade of the cage, lifting his head lazily once or twice to peer at a passing heard of springbok before dozing off again.

On returning to the release site the following morning, we half expected him to still be sitting underneath the shade, but Kyan was gone, and so the tracking began.

Tracking in NamibRand is done primarily through telemetry. Telemetry involves standing in an elevated, open space with a large antenna and receiver. If the collar is within roughly a 7km radius then beeps can be heard through the receiver. By moving the antenna to find the strongest signal and listening to the intensity of the beeps, a direction and distance can be established. There are two main reasons for tracking these released cheetahs; the first is to establish how far and how often the cheetah is moving as he or she explores their new environment, and the second is to try and get a visual on the animal to ensure its well being.

We were lucky enough to get two visuals on Kyan in our week of tracking; the first two days after the release. After pinpointing Kyan’s rough location, we settled into a morning of watching through our binoculars, moving roughly 20m every fifteen minutes to get a different angle. After a few hours we reached the base of the mountains we were watching. We signalled again to discover he was no more than 200m away from where we were standing. With excitement rising, the group clamboured up the side of a koppie at the foot of the mountains and crept forwards. We followed the signal into a river bed, searching every possible shady corner on the way. Due to the intensity of the sun, Flo decided that Kyan must be in the riverbed. Barely five minutes later Flo’s arm went up, ‘there he is!’, our less well trained eyes searched wildly for a few moments and then he appeared, his majestic beauty jogging off towards the mountains. After a few moments our fairly relaxed boy stopped and looked back at us, and we at him, our hearts in our mouths. Eventually he turned and jogged off to find some shade on the side of the mountain. I am happy to report that he looked happy and healthy, no visible injuries or upsets and a perfectly content air about him.

Our second visual was on the Thursday, four days after the release. We had located Kyan that morning and set out early in the afternoon. The receiver located him in a group of rocks at the base of a mountain not far from Gorrasis, the house where we were staying. The four of us crawled as silently as possible up the rocks, searching for a tail, a foot, anything to identify where the cheetah was. Eventually we narrowed down his location to just a few rocks, the receiver indicated he couldn’t be more than 50m away, yet we couldn’t see him. Eventually Flo crept off to examine some of Kyan’s spores he had left on the ground at the base of the mountain while we stayed watching in case Flo got too close and Kyan bolted.

Suddenly, a sleepy head appeared from behind a rock; once again Kyan had defied expectations and slept through our approach and blaring receiver. After a comical few moments of us trying to signal to Flo that if he got much closer he would be sitting on top of the cheetah, Flo also caught sight of him. We watched as Kyan, hair dishevelled and eyes heavy with sleep, slowly came to and stood up, wondering a short way before laying down to warm up in the afternoon sun, not 10m from where Flo was watching him! Slowly and cautiously we crept forward one by one to be as close to a wild cheetah as any of us had ever been and probably would be for a very long time! Kyan watched us for a few minutes before closing his eyes and drifting off again. We took the hint and slid away, trying to contain our awe and excitement. Kyan looked in very good condition, clearly taking his time to adjust to the heat of the NamibRand sun. He had shed a few of his 3kg gained during his stint at N/a’an ku se but that should change once he adjusts to catching his own food again.

Kyan is a lucky cheetah. Caught as a suspected problem animal on a farm in central Namibia, he will now be spending the rest of his days in beautiful NamibRand. Safely under the watchful eye of the research team, who have, once again, given an animal a second chance at freedom.

Our biggest thanks go to Tracey Dunstan for sponsoring Kyan’s collar and Novel Motor Company and Land Rover Namibia for sponsoring the Land Rover that transported Kyan to his new home.

Get involved
To experience your own life changing African adventure, wild carnivore release and volunteer at the project visit www.volunteersnamibia.com or email bookingsnaankuse@iway.na .
Collaring the cats before their release enables us to track their movements, check on their condition in their new environment and work to indentify a sustainable and successful solution for re-locating problem animals so they are no longer shot and killed. If you would like to make a donation or help raise funds for the collars we still desperately need to release more animals back to the wild please email donationsnaankuse@iway.na

My memories of N/a'an ku se

I was searching for a more interesting, challenging and rewarding way to spend my long summer vacation. After hitting on the idea of doing some volunteer work, then narrowing it down to working with animals in Africa, I found information about the N/a’an ku sê program and decided that this was what I was looking for.

I was impressed right from the start with a hassle-free airport pick-up and drive to the farm. I was welcomed by other volunteers, with a meal and a bed waiting. Accommodation was basic with shared facilities but always clean and comfortable. Meals were good and varied. But the reason I was there was the animals.

During my stay I was hands-on with tame cheetahs, young baboons, caracals, meerkats, big and small tortoises, horses, sheep and a rather large pig. I was able to feed and walk most of these animals (no – I did not walk the tortoises but I sometimes thought this would have been more my pace!) I also participated in boundary fence walks and carnivore feeding tours which are run for Lodge guests, so you can get up-close to lions, leopards and wild dogs (although not in the same cage thank goodness). During these activities, I was able to learn a lot about the animals, their personal histories of why they were at the sanctuary, as well as general facts about the conservation of these species. Even the farm maintenance jobs were not too difficult. We also had a lot of time to relax and get to know people from all over the world.

What I didn’t expect was the great respect and friendship I developed with fellow volunteers and staff. Rhona and her team at the beautiful Guest Lodge put on fantastic special event evenings which helped bond volunteers and staff alike. Carol and Jo were exceptional as volunteer coordinators. They were so friendly and organised, but still easy-going and open to the fact that although volunteers were there to work, we were also there to have a good time. The local bushman workers were wonderfully warm, knowledgeable and helpful, despite the language barrier.

But the highlight of my stay was joining the research program run by Flo and Cila. Not only did I learn about spoor tracking and trapping animals, but I was fortunate to spend two weeks at the cheetah and leopard release site in southern Namibia – a remote and beautiful area of the world. I would recommend this experience to anyone – and you could not find better people to be with than Flo and Cila. They are a credit to their profession and made the whole experience life-changing.

Since my return home, I have donated money towards the cost of GPS collars in order to make tracking and data collection of released cheetahs and leopards more accurate and easier (thank goodness). I would highly recommend volunteering at Naankuse, and for those ex-volunteers wanting to continue their involvement, remember that all donated money and goods, however small, goes towards the welfare and survival of the local people and animals. To Rudie and Marlice and all the Naankuse crew, I say thank you for allowing me to share in your dream.

I’ll be returning to Naankuse in August – what will you be doing?

Tracey Dunstan, UK