Where the cheetah runs to the restrooms

Next morning, William took us to the de Wildt Cheetah Centre, also known as The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, on the R513 to Madibeng near Brits in the foothills of the Magaliesberg Mountain Range, 50km from Pretoria.

The wildlife sanctuary has been established in 1971 to conserve, breed and reintroduce endangered species, in particular the cheetah and the king cheetah. Reduced in numbers by hunting, poisoning and indiscriminate killing for nearly a century, their survival has been ensured for the time being. On account of the organisation’s conservation and breeding success, cheetahs were no longer on the list of endangered animals as they had been in the 1960s. Besides caring for the fastest of the big cats, de Wildt was also a safe place for other animals at risk such as wild dogs, brown hyenas and vultures.

After a brief introduction to the organisation and their conservation projects, we climbed into an open vehicle for a tour around the centre together with a dozen other people. Visitors were not allowed to walk around on their own. While driving along the enclosures, we were briefed on their temporary and long-term residents.

Recyclers, pest controllers, dancers

A congregation of Cape vultures was assembled in a large aviary. Their bills were black, head and neck were bald except for a compact white ruff. Their body feathers were of cream and sand colour with a dark tail. Considering their business, they looked very stylish. You need a good amount of poise going around breaking bones and pulling guts from a blood-dripping carcass, dressed in smart beigecoloured trousers. Minding their ruined finery after the feast, vultures are in the habit of bathing after a feeding session. A beak covered in blood would not go well with a chic outfit.

Unfortunately, their flamboyance does not help them very much. The huge birds have become one of the most threatened species of southern Africa. The scavengers are essential to a healthy ecosystem, as they are able to spot dead animals within half an hour and dispose of them efficiently. Nothing much is left of a carcass they have dismantled, thus they are cleaning up nature. Disregarding their usefulness, the vultures are in serious danger by persecution, electrocution, poisoning as well as by shortage of carrion and loss of foraging habitat. With the result that their numbers are declining at an alarming rate in Africa.

Not only vultures are threatened by poisoning, owls are also killed that way, and their numbers are reduced by parasitic infections. They too are beneficial, since they feed on rodents and large insects as well as small reptiles, thus removing vermin. Nearby, a few beautiful large owls were residing in a spacious aviary dotted with medium sized trees and shrubs. They were spotted eagle-owls with distinct small ear tufts. Their plumage was mainly of an elegant grey-brown colour. Their faces were