Cheetah were once the companions of Queens as once tamed, they do not go wild again, unlike other carnivores such as the lion and leopard. I have always wanted one for a pet.
These majestic creatures were hunted for their skins and some African tribes beleived that if you killed one with your hands and wore the skin, you were enpowered with its speed and agility.
When Andrea and his wife came to visit for a few days, we went to the de Wildt Breeding Sanctuary to see them.
At one time they were on the Endangered Willife list and a protected species. Captive cheetah do not breed well and require certain conditions in order to do so.
The breeding sanctuary was the first in SA to have success with this project and has gone on to be renowned world wide and supply many countries with cheetah again. It has to be one of my favorite success stories.
The King Cheetah, once thought to be a separate sub-species, is an African Cheetah exhibiting a rare fur pattern mutation. A recessive gene must be inherited from both parents in order for this "blotchy" pattern to appear. 
The back is almost a solid black and pictures of it can be seen and compared in the perevious posts.
Isn't it a beauty?
The Kragga Kamma Game Park just outside PE has a tame cheetah called Duma. As a cub he was one of the cheetah used in the making of the movie Duma. It is a great experience going in and interacting with him.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful Jonker!! It is always a great experience to be able to do something like this. I am sure the kids loved it as well.
ReplyDeleteThe cheetah is beautiful but pride of place for me goes to the leopard. We did have one of the latter as a pet in the 1950's before there was any problems with keeping these animals. We brought it up on the bottle, the mother had been killed, and it never once turned on us. It had the freedom of the house but was in harness when outside with a very large kennel. It could never be returned to the wild. It loved my mother and she had a hard time doing house work, he wanted to play with the dusters and brooms etc. Those were the days! Diane
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to say what great photos these are. Diane
ReplyDeleteI love all things Big Cat and this one in the first photo made me swoon with ooohs and ahhhs. such beautiful cats. thanks for sharing with us. I do so hate to think of them being shipped to zoos all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI have known some tame ones too Diane, leopards that is, but they can turn on you at anytime and that is scary. My mother and I always had this argument about which was more beautiful as she prefered the leopard too. Needless to say, the one could never convince the other. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane. It was a great opportunity to get some and you know by now I dont let them go by without taking full advantage. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Sandra. Even after all these years I still oooh and aah!! :) Andrea took some of the most brilliant leopard shots, you should go and check them out.
ReplyDeleteA much as I am a lover of nature and prefer things to be in the wild, I do think that zoos have a great part to play in the survival of some species as their habitats are slowly being taken away and we would never see them again if it was not for zoos.
Generally speaking, zoos are well kept, the animals well fed and in prime condition with enough space to run around as most try to make them as close to the animals natural habitat as possible.
But yes, would prefer humans not be be so greedy and consider saving space for our wild animals.
What a pretty kitty. I really think you should have one as a pet. Seems unusual that a wild cat tamed remains that way. I remember you talking about this gal. Would be an awesome place to work.
ReplyDeleteWow, such a pretty Cat!
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What a beautiful creature| Interesting to hear that they are kept as pets. Thanks Joan for sharing these awesome captures.
ReplyDeleteI would really love one of these Gaelyn. :) At one time I wanted to work there as a volunteer but they had a list of people waiting as long as m arm.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and commenting Toyin O. They are spectacular. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Birdy. Can you just inagine going for a walk with one of these? Everyone will scatter and I will be no one will try to break into a house that had one of them in either. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful big cat! I love cats no matter the size. I don't know that I would want one that big though. An ocelot is a nice size big kitty!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to hear from you Becky. I have missed the funnies on your blog, they always made me smile. :)
ReplyDeleteA cheetah is not that much bigger than the ocelot, maybe twice the size but it does have much longer legs.
What a magnificent animal. Now that's a kity I could life with.
ReplyDeleteMakes two of us Ray!! :) I am not one for domestic cats and prefer dogs.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cat Joan, and it is interesting to know about their breeding habits.
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These are AMAZING shots, Joan! What a collection you must have!
ReplyDeleteThanks Becky. You are welcome.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Jose but so much of my stuff is on slides and the colours are not so good but I have started building up images on digital now. What would we do without this new technology.:)
ReplyDeleteThey really are beautiful cats. I can't imagine killing such a wonderful creature just to have it's skin.
ReplyDeleteMe either Mary. As a matter of fact, I cannot see them killing anything except if it is going to be used to eat. What a pity that killing them is classified as a "sport"!!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful, powerful, sleek, magnificent, did I saw amazing? Animals, Joan. I love your big cat posts perhaps best of ALL! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am pleased you enjoyed them Krista. I love these cheetahs. They have to be the most beautiful creatures on earth.
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