Back from Beyond
The return of two male cheetahs
There are some cheetahs known to the Cheetah Project who can be quite elusive and are not seen very often. However, it is unusual for a cheetah that is seen regularly to completely drop off our radar for long periods of time and then reappear. In the last couple of months though we have had some very good news, we have had not only one cheetah reappear, but two!
The first was Korosho. He was introduced to the project by his mother Peanut in September 2005 when he was just six weeks old. He and his brother, Chestnut, formed a coalition after they reached independence and were seen regularly around Gol and Simba Kopjes. That was until October 2007, after which neither of the boys were seen again until Korosho reappeared in May 2010 – an absence of over two and a half years! Unfortunately he was on his own, we don’t know what happened to Chestnut, and indeed probably never will. But, the good news is that Korosho seems to be doing well and has actually been seen twice more since he returned to us!
We were obviously chuffed with Korosho’s return but we never thought that lightning would strike twice – that was until Nils turned up! Nils was first seen by the project with his mother Madeline in November 2006 when he was around five months old. He and his brother Aart also formed a coalition after they became independent of their mother and were seen at least every couple of months until July 2008. After this the pair disappeared until Nils was seen in July 2010, almost two years to the day since his last sighting! He was looking quite mangy – cheetahs often suffer with mange, caused by a skin mite, during stressful times, such as losing a brother and coalition partner – but he was otherwise ok.
Although this has been very exciting news for us at the Cheetah Project, it is obviously tinged with sadness due to the loss of Chestnut and Aart. However, we’re concentrating on the good news that Korosho and Nils are still around and looking good!
