Taking a cat for a walk…

May 20th, 2013

When I first arrived here from the UK I had no idea what to expect, I was hoping I would get to feed some animals, not have to see the inside of too many cows! But it was so much better than that, so much better than I could ever have expected!

One of the things I enjoy most here that we get to do every other day is taking a lot of the animals out on walks so they can get more enrichment and it is a bit more interesting than them staying in their enclosure all day every day. It is the strangest thing to have a big cat on a leash and having them walking around your feet!

The two I love walking the most are the two little cheetah cubs, Dew and Dawn. They are so sweet because everyone goes on a walk with them, they love chasing the dogs especially Chloe the little Jack Russell, the poor dog runs and has two of the fastest land mammals in the worlds chasing at her heels, they chase her but once they catch her they have no idea what to do and she just gets a little bat on her nose!

We also walk the caracals, the leopard cubs and the servals. They all have their own places that they like to walk to and their own things they like to chase. Everyone loves walking them and we make sure that everyone gets their turn at some point.

I have loved my first week here and I am looking forward to the next three, I know that the day I have to go back will be a horrible one because I will have to leave all theses amazing animals and wonderful people. But I know this experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. Thank you Cheetah Experience!

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Time to leave… but not for good….

May 20th, 2013

Today is the last day of my second stay at Cheetah Experience….
I was here 2 months ago, at the beginning of my African trip.. I met a bunch of
lovely, amazing and inspiring people (I won’t mention their names now, but they will know who i mean) :)
They arranged a huge surprise party on my 30th birthday (3rd March) It moved me so deeply to get so much love
from people that only knew me for 2 weeks! It was the best birthday i ever had!
When i left i just knew that i have to come back before i headed back to Germany… so i returned for a further
10 days!
The experiences that you are able to make at Cheetah Experience are ones that you’ll never forget… A 5 months old male Tiger that tries to climb on your lap (that is already way to small for his body) while you’re bottle feeding him- it’s amazing to see the trust in his eyes while he’s drinking his milk looking at you… A playful adorable baby Leopard that makes you laugh so much when he keeps on jumping on your back while you’re busy cleaning his enclosure… Getting your face cleaned by the tongue of a very gentle purring caracal and being deeply touched by the careful and caring way he’s doing it… I have a lot of such memories in my head & heart and I’m taking them with me… Good bye Cheetah Experience and thank you so so much for everything- see you soon
Heavy black heart
Love, Steffi

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Felinae serval…

May 17th, 2013

 

 
We have 6 servals here at Cheetah Experience, quite often the smaller cats are overlooked compared to the much larger, and some would say more impressive cats…
 
Visitors come to Cheetah Experience expecting to see, well Cheetahs of course… When they drive in they may cast a glance towards the serval enclosures as they pass, and they may question wether they just saw a small cheetah, or something else…. When we explain that what they saw was in fact a Serval.. or in Africaans the tierboskat (tiger bush cat) they show little interest.. Its not until we have entered the enclosure of either Bailey, or Mikey, Angie and Alegra that they quickly become enchanted by these smaller cats… As Alegra weaves in an out of the guest legs, Angie chases shadows in her pool, or Mikey stretches in the most unimaginable positions that their interest grows…
Many people ask exclaim that they are almost like house cats, and inevitabley we are asked wether Servals can make good house pets…. The volunteers laugh and explain that while servals are cute and fluffy at times, they are very inquisative, love to jump and that they are still very much wild animals… Anyone who has every had a serval in their house will tell you that nothing is safe from the twitching nose of a serval, things WILL be knocked over, curtains CAN be climbed, Toys WILL not last so long…. then there comes the challange of keeping them contained…
 
Did you know that Servals can jump 3.5 metres straight up!!?? In the wild a Servals diet consists mainly of birds! They jump up and catch the bird in a clapping motionServals will also hunt small mammals, frogs and even fish!  Servals have great big ears, a bit like the wolf in Red Riding Hood… ”ÄLL THE BETTER TO HEAR YOU WITH” :) They can detect even the slightest of movements and catch their prey with a clapping motion! They have a sucess rate of 50% !
 
Another Unique thing about the Servals is the coat markings, Servals have spots AND stripes…. The stripes extend along the back, their tails have stripe patterns and then on their legs, while the spots fill in the rest of the body… Unfortubnately these striking markings have attracted the attention of poachers, Servals quite often find themselves victim to the fur trade…. It can take 25 Serval pelts to make one fur coat… Shocking hey!!
 
I said before that servals sometimes catch fish and frogs, they have a liking of water that is not unknown in the cat world, but definately not a common thing… most cats as im sure you knoe HATE water…. Leopards and Tigers are a couple of other exceptions…. Our Servals will waste away a whole afternoon puddling about in their pond, or around the trees where we have watered… If Angie gets a hold of the hose however then we HAVE a problem!!! A tug of war contest begins!! Its a battle of wills that the volunteers struggle to win… so now we have to be a bit smarter and make sure Angie is put into the other camp with the door firmly closed!
 
Once you know all these Serval facts im sure you will fall a little bit more in love with these Wonderous cats!
 
Claire

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