Protecting cheetahs, island style — how Eastern Cape park plays vital role in mimicking natural migration
But over time humans’ influence on the environment started to seep into the natural landscape, he explained – hunting and using animals, habitat loss through development of agriculture, roads and buildings that either extirpated animals from their natural habitat, or blocked their path to migration. A SANParks vet checks the health of a cheetah’s teeth while under sedation. At four and a half years old, this cat’s teeth are still in good condition.
“These small parks, it’s not a natural system,” explained Zimmermann. “It’s fenced, the animals can’t migrate, they can’t run away from predation. So, by managing the predators we get to try to manage that process.” SANParks veterinarian, Dr David Zimmermann, checks the vitals of CJ the cheetah during the fitting of a new tracking collar while she’s sedated. After wild cheetahs have been darted, a blindfold is put on to protect their eyes.
But the problem is our landscape, we are managing protected areas – they’re not connected anymore – because of us humans. We’ve created that fragment, and animals can’t move across the landscape from one park to the next.Overall, the Mountain Zebra National Park has contributed 35 cheetahs to the greater metapopulation, including to important range expansion projects within southern Africa, with cheetahs going as far as Malawi and Zambia.
Muller added that while the benefits of collaring are significant, “it’s absolutely vital that this practice is carried out ethically and correctly to ensure the welfare of the animals always comes first”. Thanks to the conservation efforts of farmers in the area when Mountain Zebra National Park was first proclaimed in 1937, a small herd of the endangered Cape mountain zebra survived, providing the founder population of zebra, which the park is now known for
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