Pretoria - Rietvlei Nature Reserve’s latest cheetah offspring are being relocated to game reserves.
The litter of five young adults was born to Njozi early last year.
Vincent van der Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Project, who was instrumental in the relocation, said: “Everything ran smoothly, and although we captured all five young cheetahs, who were darted from a helicopter, only the four males were relocated.”
He said the fifth cheetah, a female, would remain for now with Njozi.
“Although all four males are self-sufficient hunters and will be relocated shortly, the sub-adult female will remain at Rietvlei for another month or two to ensure she is a fully capable hunter, able to survive on her own.”
The City of Tshwane said the female would spend more time with her mother, as males stick together and hunt together but females have to be able to cope by themselves.
The City said Rietvlei Nature Reserve provided a safe space for wild cheetah conservation where cheetahs could perfect their hunting skills.
Two males were relocated to Nyosi Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, and two to Tshukudu Game Reserve in the Lowveld in Limpopo. The female would be relocated to Makutsi Game Reserve in the Lowveld in Limpopo.
Van der Merwe said although Rietvlei Nature Reserve introduced two male cheetahs in March 2003, a breeding population (both sexes) was only introduced in June 2014.
He said cheetahs had performed exceptionally well at Rietvlei since then, with 13 surplus wild cheetahs made available for cheetah range expansion efforts in, among others, Zambia (Bangweulu), Malawi (Majete), Western Cape (Roam), the Waterberg (Marakele), and the Lowveld (Selati).
The significant contribution of this small urban reserve to wild cheetah conservation efforts in southern Africa has been made possible by the dedicated efforts of conservation officials from the City, the Friends of Rietvlei, and the wild cheetah management services provided by the Metapopulation Initiative in partnership with, The Aspinall Foundation.
Njozi was relocated from the Garden Route Game Lodge to Rietvlei in August 2020.
“This is her first litter and it’s quite remarkable that she has raised all five to independence. First-time mothers often lose their first litters to competing predators. Njozi proved to be an excellent mother from day one, keeping the jackals and brown hyenas of Rietvlei away from her young cubs by changing carefully selected den sites every few days,” Van der Merwe said.
He said her cubs had to be removed to prevent inbreeding. Cheetah overpopulation also has to be avoided.
Van der Merwe said the males going to Tshukudu would join a female and there was hope of establishing a breeding population. There was the same hope regarding the female going to Makutsi Game Reserve to join a male.
He said that on removal of the sub-adults, efforts would be made to supplement the Rietvlei blesbok population before a male cheetah joined Njozi, so Rietvlei could continue to contribute to conservation efforts.
The City is part of the Cheetah Metapopulation Project, co-ordinated by The Metapopulation Initiative, and entails the management of about 467 cheetahs on 61 reserves in southern Africa and India.
The principal goals are to maintain the genetic and demographic integrity of the cheetah metapopulation and to increase the resident range of wild cheetahs across their historical distribution range.
Pretoria News