IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Purchase, G.K. | |
| The Matusadona Cheetah Project: Lessons from a wild-to-wild translocation | |
| 1998 Conference Proceeding | |
Bt the end of 1994, 14 adult cheetahs had been successfully released into the Matusadona National Park (MNP), Zimbabwe. These cheetahs had been captured on commercial ranches in the southern part of the country where they had been reported to be causing stock losses. No feasibility analysis of MNP was carried out prior to the translocation. The park has a relatively high density of lions (0.31/km2 ) and a density of hyenas of 0.13/km2. Four years after the translocation, 13 adult and four juvenile cheetahs were present in the park (giving a density of 0.035 /km2 ). There have been five records of breeding and two records of cubs surviving to adulthood since the cheetah were released. The cheetah in the park showed a preference for the ecotone between the woodland and foreshore. The cheetahs utilised the foreshore for hunting and feeding and the woodland for resting and moving through the park. The treeline was used most often at the same time of the day as most hunting was observed suggesting that it is used prior to a hunt. The thick woodland vegetation of MNP seems to be providing the introduced cheetah with an opportunity to avoid adverse interactions with lions and hyenas and the translocation up to the present date has been a success. There is concern that the behaviour of the cheetahs may limit the size of the population to below that which is viable. |
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