Here at Cheetah Experience we dont just have big cats, Shakira and Nikita our two Canadian wolves are one of the exceptions… Visitors to the park are always surprised when they encounter wolves here, but they are a much loved part of the family and always get a lot of attention from volunteers and tourists alike…

A wolf pack always has a hierarchy… The alpha pair leading the pack, followed by subordinate “beta” wolves… In our wolf pack there are only the two females, Shakira takes the “Alpha” role, and Nikita is therefore a Beta…

Being the “Alpha” Shakira has not only the dominance, but demands attention and respect first… when staff and volunteers enter their enclosure and have gained their trust, both girls rush over to greet their “pack members” Shakira usually throws a lick your way and Nikita pushes against you to be petted… Everyone is always amazed when they are “accepted” into the pack…

When Nikita comes into season, Shakira “punishes” her… Shakira exerts her dominance by pinning Nikita to the ground and growling, or pushing her away if people enter the enclosure… During this time its quite unpleasant for Nikita who usually slinks about the back end of the enclosure..

To alleviate these issues, Cheetah Experience have recenty been discussing having them spayed… To see if that will in any way help…

Recently Team England… Ann, Kerri and Paul… and Team Norway…. Christina, Trulls and Thor… all bonded with the wolves, and went everyday several times to sit with them… Upon seeing the behaviours while Nikita was in season they decided to donate the money for the operation between them… A vet was called and a date arranged!

The vet darted both first time round, which in itself is quite an acomplishment… both the wolves are very suspicious and nervous around people they dont know and unfamiliar objects… they seem to be able to sense something is different and race around… This time was no different, when they spotted an unfamiliar man striding up to they enclosure they were on edge… but the darting procedure was very quick… Upon falling asleep the girls were transported to the vet and under the knife in no time at all… By lunchtime they had been collected, and although groggy they were back in their eclosure sleeping off the operations…

Nearly a week on both the girls a doing good, their stitches and wounds are healing nicely… in time their hair will grow back over the scars, the hormone levels will begin to change and the dominance issues will start to level out…We cant THANK both Team England and Team Norway enough for their generous donation!!!

Claire

Our beautiful cheetah Mika left all the pain and all the suffering behind and moved on to another world.
Now this is what cheetah heaven looks like to me :

A savanna, endless space. Mountains in the background.
Not one single cloud in the blue sky.
Trees and bushes that provide a lot of shade.
Waterholes with the clearest water you’ve ever seen.
A variety of prey, always available.
Lots of cheetahs, peacefully living together.
No enemies, no weapons, no hunters.

Try to imagine Mika in this place.
Maybe playing with Pepsi’s babies right now.
It brings tears into my eyes because she’s not with us anymore.
But it also makes me smile because now she can finally run free and I know she will be happy.

Rest in peace beautiful girl, we will never forget you!

Alessa

Matt and Estee came to Cheetah Experience on one of our guided tours, during the tour both showed such enthusiasm and interest… It always makes the tours so much more enjoyable when people really have fun…  And enjoy it they did! After the tour they asked for some information about volunteering, and also about the adoption of Max and Misty our two youngest lions… Because Max and Misty were still in quarantine they were unable to be interacted with, but from outside the enclosure Matt and Estee fell in love… How could you not… Max and Misty are the cutest bundles of lion fluff!

They planned a trip back to Bloemfontein and organised a volunteer day at the farm, on arrival they were introduced to the many volunteers, staff and of course most importantly the animals! And im sure promptly forgot most of the names within the first 5 minutes!!

They got stuck in helping ith chores, feedings and just generally playing with the animals and at the end of the day we had the adoption photos shoot! Its always great to see how the animals draw people in, the smiles on both Estee and Matt’s faces said so much!

Cheetah experience really appreciates all the help, donations and sponserships we receive… People dont realise how much they help us out even by one day’s volunteering… Matt and Estee kindly donated some baby milk for our cubbies, very much needed at the moment after our baby boom!

Thank you for all your help! We hope to see you again soon..! Max and Misty send their lion love…