Durban — History was rewritten when two cheetahs were released to roam freely in the hills and valleys of KwaZulu-Natal for more than 200 years.
July 27, 2022, marked a historic day for the reserve and all its stakeholders, with the release of two cheetah brothers near Zulu Rock Lodge, northern KZN.
The release meant that for the first time in over 200 years, these majestic cats once again roam freely in the hills and valleys of Babanango.
Babanango Game Reserve sales and marketing manager Seyms Brugger said they were a new project, a conservancy based in the heart of Zululand between Ulundi and Vryheid.
The reserve is a real community-driven project that has been in the making for a long time, and the idea was, among other things, to create local employment opportunities and rewilding projects.
Brugger said that over the last couple of years, they brought in all kinds of things and now that as they head toward the completion of their project, they are starting to bring in what people would probably call your famous animals like cheetahs, lions and elephants.
“The cheetahs were the first step into bringing predators back onto Babanango,” Brugger said.
In May, the reserve announced that the brothers were released into their Boma, where they were expected to stay for a period of six to eight weeks while they habituate themselves to their new surroundings.
They had arrived from Roam Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape.
Before their release, brand new collars were put on the cheetahs, allowing the Babanango Game Reserve to monitor their movements and behaviour.
Brugger said that on July 27, at 11 o'clock, was the first time that free-roaming cheetahs were seen on the hills of the Babanango Valley for over 200 years.
“After waking up, they immediately walked off into the hills, and we simply can't wait to follow their journey as the new 'apex' predators of Babanango Game Reserve (that is, until the lions arrive),” Brugger said.
“It’s very, very exciting, and they are doing very, very well. We've been monitoring them every day,” Brugger said.
He said that exploring their new territory, “they made a massive first kill, taking down an adult Hartebeest.”
“It was a very big moment for us. So it's the first sort of big predator that we have now on Babanango Game Reserve.”
Amid concerns that the cheetahs could be hunted, Brugger said: “We have highly skilled rangers protecting our cheetah brothers and other wildlife on the reserve. Our fences are monitored 24/7, and there is no risk of that situation happening.”
Brugger indicated that the brothers will form an incredible bond and will live and hunt together.
“Since then, we have seen increased jackal, brown hyena and vulture activity.”
Brugger said that over the next couple of months, there would be a lot of animal introductions at the reserve.
“We've got two female cheetahs arriving, hopefully at the end of September, and sort of between September and October, we will release our elephant and our lions, which would then essentially complete the big five project in terms of all the big five animals being on Babanango,” Brugger explained.
Since the start of the year, at least 1 144 animals have been released onto the reserve, including buffalo, giraffe, eland, zebra, impala, wildebeest, ostriches, hartebeest and the endangered oribi.
He said the most exciting part was that they had managed to build a project.
They were fortunate enough to have an international investor who is more passionate about upskilling and development than his own pocket, which is rare these days, Brugger said.
“It’s almost a billion rand investment into KwaZulu-Natal, which is huge in terms of revenue and job creation,” he said.
“It's such an incredible project, and our community trusts, 75% of the land is owned by community trusts. So there are so many families that benefit from this project. So yeah, it's something very unique. We're in a part of Zululand where there are not a lot of other game reserves. It's mostly cattle, cattle grazing land and those kinds of things.”
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