The latest newsletter from
Samara Private Game Reserve included a lovely story about Bellini, the newest lady cheetah at the
Eastern Cape private game reserve.
MEET BELLINI - OUR NEW LADY CHEETAH
Bellini comes from Limpopo province and was born and raised at Witwater Lodge in the Winterberg. She is six years old and has had one litter of two cubs.
She was brought to us through an exchange programme set up by EWT throughout Southern Africa to improve the gene pool of our cheetah population. Bellini travelled well from Limpopo (1500 km trip one way) and has settled down, allowing staff and visitors to get within a few meters of her. She is very friendly and will often talk to you if you sit with her for a while.
Magnus, a two year old male cheetah born on Samara, and Bellini, are currently awaiting their release on to the 27 000 hectares of pristine habitat with an abundance of natural prey on Samara Private Game Reserve.
They are being kept in a large enclosure on the property where they are undergoing a habituation process. An animal is considered to be habituated when they view people as neutral in their environment. In other words, they are not threatened by people and this gives us the unique opportunity to view them as wild cheetahs going about their lives in their natural habitat without interference which is ideal for management and research purposes.
It also allows visitors to our reserve some spectacular sightings of cheetah in their natural habitat. We are currently conducting a study of the feeding ecology of cheetah on the reserve and based on the results, will be able to estimate the number of cheetah which can sustainably be supported on the reserve.
ABOUT SAMARA PRIVATE GAME RESERVE
Fine dining, on-site spa facilities and game drives are all available.
