Meet the Stars
This is the page where you get to meet some of the creatures that stole my heart.
For many more cheetah pictures, go to my Cheetah
Gallery.
There
were 26 cheetahs at the CCF during the time I was there. Some live there,
like Chewbaaka, orphaned at a very early age and hand raised by Laurie.
Chewbaaka is the Cheetah Ambassador, and boy! Does he carry the title
with dignity!
Another CCF resident is 
Old
Lady, a 12 year-old grand dame who became too old and sick to be attractive at a
game ranch where she was being exhibited. Old Lady is hard of hearing and
has bad eyesight. She spends most of her time resting and has the best
possible life in captivity. She is very loved and well taken care of by
everyone at CCF. Old Lady has a best friend, Leah.
Some cheetahs at CCF are waiting to be released and others, for a home.
Why
are not all being released, you may ask. Well, some of these cats are
orphans. They will never have the benefit of a mother that will teach them
the skills to be cheetahs in the wild.
Peggy,
about 9 months' old, became my favorite. She was quarantined in a pen right next to our
rondovals. She spent a whole month in a trap with a broken leg. It had
to be re-broken in order to help it heal properly. Peggy has the best
attitude I've ever seen. She's feisty, playful, and very coy. Her
chirping at night became my favorite lullaby.
The sound you
heard when opening this page is an actual cheetah chirping sound! Cheetahs
bark, chirp, purr and have many other ways of communicating.
At the time, ten of the cubs at CCF, including Peggy, were
waiting for a 'lift' to the US. They were destined for two zoos where they
will be part of an international breeding program. On April 6th, a US Air
Force airplane transported them to their new country.
The Three Boys are the epitome of power and
beauty. 
They
are young adult males destined for a game farm in South Africa. They will
have plenty of room and game to live an almost-normal cheetah life. I was
in awe every time I got to see them.
Only
those with the tools to survive will be released. Those are the ones that
might have suffered an injury and are being rehabilitated before they can be
free again. They are also the ones I didn't photograph much, since contact
with humans is very limited for their own safety and I wasn't able to
take their pictures at my leisure. These naughty cubs were waiting for
their mother to heal. Her paw was injured in a trap.
I hope that by the time you read this, that
cheetah family will already be gracing the Namibian landscape with their beautiful presence.