CHEETAHS! and then some

By far the most numerous of the cats at Moholoholo is the cheetah.  It seems not only are there are a lot of them around, but also they get into trouble a lot.  So a lot of kittens have arrived at the Rehab

Center over the years, though, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, none so far this year.

Here's an old lady who has lived at the Center for about 8 years.  She was raised by bottle and now enjoys a compound, all to herself, that must be at least a couple of acres in size.  She is far too tame to be released, but she is what is called here an "ambassador" animal, in that she will amicably pose for photos with people and hopefully help to educate them about cheetahs.  She seemed to enjoy that a group of us came to visit her one afternoon, and we sat with her on a little hill and felt most companionable.

And, in fact, here she is, amicably posing with some tourist.






And here I am, together with another volunteer who came from Madagascar, with the yearling cheetah cubs.  They were mostly very nice, but when the two smaller volunteers from Madagascar (aged 10 and 12 years old) were near, they suddenly took on the "predator" look rather than the "kitty cat" look.  I heard that big cats are notorious for having a predatory attitude toward children; that's very eerie.

 
And this is my favorite cheetah, Bullet, who lived very near my little house.  One evening--after all that elephant meat came in--I saw Bullet's supper, and it had to be at LEAST 10 pounds of meat.
This is Bullet the next morning contemplating and discussing the meal of the night before with me.

Please turn your volume up high so you can hear what he has to say!

And here, for no good reason, except they're really pretty birds, and there's room for them here, are:

A rare Bateleur eagle named Chicken who also has lived at Moholoholo for years and who loves to have his neck scratched. And he's got the prettiest pinky-orange beak and feet imagineable.

 

And this guy--a ground hornbill, also rare--spends his day making an odd hollow gulping noise in an apparently futile attempt to attract female company.