Locals detected the young cheetahs and instantly informed Swakopmund’s resident veterinarians Dr Rodenwoldt (AfriCat’s resident vet) and Dr Winterbach. The cubs were no older than six to seven months and were severely dehydrated and malnourished. After 24 hours of intensive care and observation, both cats were back on their feet and started eating and drinking on their own again.

The AfriCat Foundation was contacted for assistance. After a further three days, the orphaned siblings were collected and transported to the AfriCat Headquarters where they were released into a small holding enclosure for the first few days to facilitate monitoring. As both cubs had been born in the wild, they were not habituated in any way and thus became enormously stressed in captivity and in the presence of people. After another week, the siblings – one male and one female – were relocated into a more spacious camp with natural vegetation providing a safe and stress-free environment. Swakop and Mundi, who were named after their origins, grew into two beautiful cheetahs that were evidently most happy in one another’s company.

Because the two cubs were too young to be released back into the wild on their own immediately, we thought it might be worth the try to bond them with a wild adult female who had a cub of similar age at that time. Perhaps there was a chance that Dizzy would bond with the youngsters and be able to teach them how to hunt and survive in the wild. However, there were a few setbacks before this trial project could start: one was the high precipitation late in the season, and the second was that the cubs were too wild to allow us to closely monitor the situation. They needed to trust man a little bit more. So the project was only initiated in April 2014.