Researching Released Cheetahs
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- by Dr. Laurie Marker December 3, 2014
CCF’s cheetah release program has had its ups and downs this year. During 2014, we released eight cheetahs and continue to closely monitor three cheetahs released in 2013, the “Wild Girl” sisters named Jacomina, Minja and Emma.
Jacomina’s adventures continue to be a highlight! She’s living at Erindi, a private wildlife reserve. She and her cubs, now about eight months old, are hunting regularly.
Released cheetahs are tracked via satellite collars with daily downloads coming to our computer each morning. Our tracking team head out into the bush, following the GPS coordinates to find out more about the habitat the cheetahs are hunting in and what prey they have captured.
CCF interns from a variety of universities have been working on data analysis and better understanding of the prey and the activity time of their movement. So far, results are consistent of our understanding of wild cheetah diet and the data reinforces our early work and long-term study.
