by Mary Wykstra

Since March 2008 we have worked with partners in the Samburu region to better understand the issues facing cheetahs in these northern districts. In August 2008 I received authorization from the Samburu and Isiolo County Councils and initiated a cheetah monitoring programme in collaboration with the Ewaso Tracking Project. In 2009 I received permission to collar four cheetahs in the region, the first of which would be from within the Reserves (Samburu and Buffalo Springs).

Using data from Shivani Bhalla (Ewaso Lions), photos from local guides and from my own visits, we targeted two areas. There are two prime males which spend some time in the Ngare Mara area of Buffalo Springs. These males will disappear for several months and come back again. There are several female cheetahs which share the range of the Lolpopong area in Samburu – photo ID of non-target cheetahs help us to know who not to collar.

On the first day that the KWS veterinarian was available (25 January 2010) Peter and I drove the Lolpopong loop in Samburu. The two previous days we had focused our efforts in Ngare Mara, so we were ready for a change. We set out in the morning by 6AM and at 8:30 we were preparing to leave the area. As we rounded a corner there sat a young female cheetah. She was full grown, looked healthy and as we waited for the veterinarians to arrive, she made an impala kill. This was my first time to see a cheetah make a kill from start to finish

I moved into the KWS vehicle and we headed to pick up some County Council rangers and to load the immobilization drugs. I left Peter and a Serena Lodge guide, Yassin, watching the cheetah. When we returned we were told that a lioness came and stole the kill, but that the cheetah was still visible. The veterinarian team went into action. They carefully approached the cheetah and darted her. We took biomedical samples and measurements. We fitted her with the collar which will record hourly GPS locations and quarterly speed. This if the first data of its kind for a northern cheetah!

We used the method from Namibia of waking the cheetah in a box to better monitor her recovery. Once we felt she was fully awake and able to fend for herself we released her again in the same area where we caught her. For the next 3 days we scanned the area using telemetry equipment and did not find her. We also continued to search the Ngare Mara area for the target males – but we had no luck in location them.

We then went out to the West Gate Conservancy area to work out a few more details on setting cheetah traps. We returned to Samburu to search for the cheetah on Tuesday. We took a ranger named Robert with us. We asked Robert to name the cheetah something that would have meaning in Kisamburu. Robert suggested we call her “Nataanywe” (n – dahn – you-a) – it means something you have been waiting for. A daughter who is born when the father is away will often be named Nataanywe because the father is pleasantly surprised by the child he was waiting for.

On Wednesday, Nataanywe made a kill in the Samburu Lodge area and we were able to approach her to download the information from the collar. Thus, we are assured she is happy and healthy with her new collar, and that all is functioning well. We will post a map of her first movements soon – this collar also takes a speed every 15 minutes, so will let us know so much about cheetah behavior!

Visit our web site – actionforcheetahs.org.

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