Saying goodbye to Frankie
Sadly one of our group leaders – FRANKIE who was one of the most adventurous of the first released group of captive cheetahs, was attacked by a territorial leopard on Monday the 12th and died yesterday.
Coco, Frankie and Spud were siblings. They were captured from the wild as tiny cubs and kept as pets and due to being fed the incorrect diet they were all suffering from a calcium deficiency when they came into AfriCat’s care at the age of 3 months. As a result of the lack of calcium in their diets, their bones were very weak and each had a broken leg and had to undergo surgery. During their recovery they had to be kept as still as possible and therefore had to be kept in separate crates. The cubs were reunited after six weeks and put in a small enclosure until they regained their muscle strength. After three months they were moved to a larger enclosure and joined by Bones, Hammer and Tongs.
On the 18th of MAY – their chance of going back into the wild arrived!!
All 3 siblings together with their 2 friends, Bones and Hammer were released into the newly completed 16 000ha Okonjima Nature Reserve. This special occasion was witnessed by many ecstatic guests and it was a day to remember.
The rehabilitation programme gives these cheetahs the opportunity to hone their hunting skills and become self-sustaining in a protected area. Orphaned at an early age, the siblings have missed out on all that they should have learnt from their mother while growing up – not only hunting skills and techniques but the essential ‘life-skills” needed to survive in the wild.
Since their release the 5 have been the most successful of all the cheetahs. They are led by Hammer and Bones, but FRANKIE showed the best hunting success.
They were monitored every day, but we soon realized the 5 had formed an amazing unit, and after nearly 2 months of constant monitoring, the AfriCat team felt they were doing well and also needed less time followed by man, so that they could find their way in their new world without constant disturbance.
These newly rehabilitated cheetahs were learning the day to day “life skills” by way of experience and trial and error; lessons often being hard and unfortunately as we experienced when FRANKIE was found on Monday the 12th, sometimes fatal.
Knowing which other predators to avoid and when to back off and relinquish hard-earned prey and avoiding injuries from the horns, tusks and hooves of prey animals are just some of the lessons that need to be learnt.
FRANKIE was discovered on Monday morning by one of the Okonjima guides while out tracking with the guests. He had last been seen on Friday the 9th and was doing well.
He was still alive and most of the neck injuries seemed superficial. He was darted by the AfriCat team and taken to Otjiwarongo where Dr Axel Hartmann did his best to clean & stitch him up and after a couple of days Frankie was returned to AfriCat welfare where Dave and Carla were monitoring him around the clock. Sadly yesterday he took a turn for the worst and was again rushed to the vets 74km from Okonjima.
Leopard bites are known for the infection that they cause and although FRANKIE was on a course of strong antibiotics – sadly Dr Hartmann had to put him down, for his condition had deteriorated rapidly.
Okonjima & AfriCat
