Lucky, Ayla and Tearmark - October Update

Lucky and Ayla

We are all very excited here as building work is beginning on Lucky's new camp! Thanks to donors and fundraisers, we have been able to order the materials which arrived this week. 

The plans for the camp have changed since our original drawings as the extreme weather in 2011 has affected the terrain here quite considerably. Workers have begun debushing the area, which sits just behind Rudie and Marlice's house, down in the valley, not far from the 2 lion camp - Meatball and Gobbolina. It is very overgrown with blackthorn, which plagues the Namibian veldt, so we need to set the structural foundations first before we can start inserting the poles for the fences.

Look out for photos of the build and hopefully Lucky's big move in your next update!  

Lucky

Lucky

Over the last couple of months Ayla and Tearmark have become an integral part of our footprinting research project - We are helping to develop a new piece of software to identify wild cheetahs using their footprints and are using all the cheetahs at our sanctuary as data to test the software's useability and build up a pictorial database. The two cheetahs have been encouraged to walk across a patch of sand several times and their tracks photographed and documented. The project is truly groundbreaking in carnivore research so Ayla and Tearmark are very special to be a part of its origins.

Footprinting with Ayla

As Ayla and Tearmark are still fairly wild, venturing into their camp is always done with extreme caution. We have deliberately given them as little human contact as possible because we want to re-release them back into the wild at some point, so their behaviour towards people can sometimes feel a little intimidating, particularly for new volunteers! 

Tearmark

Wildlife Biologist Stu conducted the footprinting, setting the sand patch, luring the cheetah (either Ayla or Tearmark depending on the day) to walk across it and photographing the finished footprint. By his side is one volunteer, to keep an eye on Ayla or Tearmark whilst Stu's busy. On the other side of the camp, we placed 3 volunteers to keep Lucky and either Ayla or Tearmark distracted and away from the footprinting. 

Stu photographing Tearmark's footprint with volunteer

Lucky and Ayla watching on

Armed with small pieces of red meat, the volunteers would keep the cheetahs at bay by throwing enticing treats far away. Lucky, Ayla and Tearmark all seemed to quite enjoy the game actually!

Ayla

As this was one of the first opportunities we had to get close to Ayla and Tearmark we noticed that Ayla is growing into proportions untypical for a female. This has led to a startling discovery - that Ayla is a BOY! When cubs are young, as Ayla was when he first arrived at N/a'an ku se, it is often difficult to tell the gender and it is only once they grow older that the physical appearances become more apparent. So, our little girl, is in fact, a little boy.

Ayla and Tearmark

 

Tearmark

 

Lucky

We still have plans to release Ayla and Tearmark very soon and are currently deciding on the most suitable release site for them. Given they have lived at N/a'an ku se for around 2 years, we need to decide whether it is necessary for them to have a soft release which is where they acclimatise to the new translocated area by living in a large boma for a period of time before a hard release. We'll keep you posted on the developments!