My Kuzuko cheetah experience

Kuzuko Lodge in the Greater Addo Elephant National Park is one of my favorite lodges to visit.  Because its on the Karoo side of the Zuurberg mountains the animal sightings may be slightly less than on the coastal side, but I have had some magnificent encounters and combined with their lodge and service it has been a recommendable experience every time.  A Karoo Heartland Marketing Association meeting brought me back to Kuzuku and during my stay I got to do one of their activities I haven't been able to do before, their cheetah experience.

As our luck would have it we found the two cheetahs right next to the fence on a kill so we quickly hopped off the vehicle and approached on foot to a safe distance.  Well, safe is perhaps not the right word.  Let's rather say a comfortable distance for the cheetah.  Kuzuko's cheetah aren't tame but they have learnt to tolerate the presence of humans and allow visitors to get fairly close to them without entering their space.  Our ranger kept us behind him at all times and you could see he had an eye on them constantly just in case.

Seeing them this close while on foot is so much better than sitting on a game drive vehicle or looking at them through a fence.  The lifted their heads for a look at us once or twice but otherwise didn't even bother about us.

Kuzuko may charge an additional fee for this activity which goes towards the Kuzuko Foundation to assist funding their Wildlife Rehabilitation efforts, assisting them in their endeavours to preserve Africa’s wildlife legacy.

 

Disclosure: I stayed at the reserve as guest of Karoo Heartland and Kuzuko Lodge.  I received no further remuneration and keep full editorial control over the post.

Speedy cat a-resting

One of the cheetahs at Kragga Kamma Game Park having a bit of a sleep while I stalk him through the grass with my camera 

Jagluiperd

 

Die groot kat wat seker die meeste onderskat word wanneer daar oor die diereryk gepraat word is die jagluiperd.  Wildkykers wil gewoonlik leeus en luiperds sien en as tiere natuurlik in Afrika voorgekom het sou hulle ook seker bo die arme jagluiperd op die lys gewees het.  Die Jagluiperd is die vinnigste landsoogdier en kan snelhede van tussen 112 en 120 km/h bereik.  Hy kan 100 km/h binne 3 sekondes bereik en kan tot 450 m ver die spoed handhaaf voor hy moet stop om te verhoed dat sy liggaam oorverhit.  Jagluiperds verkies oop savannes, gras of bosveld en kom hoofsaaklik in Afrika voor met 'n klein groepering van 'n subspesie wat in Iran aangetref word.

Cheetah

Kragga Kamma Game Park is probably the best place around Port Elizabeth if you only have an hour or two and want to see wild animals.  The park has a separate enclosure where they keep their cheetah which is part of a breeding program.  Unfortunately for me this cheetah was sitting between me and the fence, so unfortunately the fence shows in the background of the picture.  But I still love the pic.

Cheetah's ostrich kill

Warning: The pictures in this post my offend sensitive visitors

On our game drive at Kuzuko Lodge the ranger told us that the two cheetah on the reserve hadn't eaten for probably a week so the chances were good that we could encounter a kill that morning.  The cheetah have collars on so we were able to track them down quite easily.  The two of them were feeding on a ostrich which they must have killed less than an hour before we got there.  They were stuffed already with tummies looking like big round balls with one lying in the shade a couple of meters away and the other still picking at his food.

I know the pictures are a bit gruesome, but I love them.  They are a bit different from just having a cheetah walking along in the veld or lying in the shade somewhere.  Pity we didn't get there like an hour earlier cause I would love to have seen them pull the ostrich down.

Cheetah Spots

Its not like you can just walk up to a wild animal and ask them to sit still for a little while you try to get a closeup of them.  Our cheetah interaction experience at Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve outside East London did give me the opportunity to get such a shot of one of their cheetahs.  A cheetah's spots are unique like finger prints and no two cheetahs are exactly the same.

The black "tear marks" running from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth is to keep sunlight out of its eyes and aid in hunting and seeing long distances.  How? Don't ask me.  That's what Wikipedia said.  Another interesting fact that I discovered after mentioning them purring yesterday was that unlike lions, tigers and leopards, the cheetah can purr as it inhales, but cannot roar. By contrast, the big cats can roar but cannot purr, except while exhaling.

Inkwenkwezi cheetah interaction

When it comes to big cats in Africa people usually think of the lion and the leopard as they both fall in the Big 5, which means that the cheetah are often neglected a bit.  But a big cat stays a big cat and during the Mini vs Maxi trip through the Eastern Cape we just couldn't let the opportunity go by to have a cheetah interaction session at Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve outside East London.

Approaching the enclosure you hear a low growling coming from inside.  The ranger quickly assured us that its not them growling but in fact purring.  After a quick briefing we headed inside and once you start to interact with what at 120km/hour is the fastest land mammal in the world, you suddenly realise that they are nothing more than overgrown pussycats.

A hansom pair we make

Skin patterns

It is amazing how beautiful some animals are. The tiger, leopard, cheetah, giraffe and a couple of others must heave been in the front of the row when God created the animals and were dishing out the skins. Poor warthog must have been standing close to the back. Here are a couple of close-ups of animal skins. All of these animals were (and hopefully still are) alive when I took the pics.

Cheetah



Crocodile


Giraffe

Cheetah

Big Cats

On my trip last week I visited two different private game reserves. Between the two reserves I got to see and photograph three species of big cats.

Ok, so not indigenous to South Africa, but a very awesome cat. Kwantu Private Game Reserve has a predator centre where they breed with endangered animals. They have a pair of Bengal Tigers and the male was quite content with his picture being taken. He even posed and looked straight into the camera.

This lion is called Mufasa. He is one of a couple of "tame" lions being rehabilitated to be reintroduced into the wild of the reserve.

Our visit to Pumba Private Game Reserve was soured by the fact that it rained the whole time we were there. It was a pity because I was looking forward to see their wild white lions. Well it was not to be. What we did see quite unexpectedly find was a pair of Cheetahs. It was raining consistently and I was one the wrong side so the lens kept on getting wet. At least I got of one or two shots.