De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre
Encyclopedia
The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre is a captive breeding
facility for cheetah
s and other animals that is situated in the foothills of the Magaliesberg
mountain range (near Brits
and the Hartbeespoort Dam
) in the North West Province of South Africa
.
farm, which they acquired in 1950. Due to her compassionate nature, Ann soon had a collection of stray and injured cheetas on the farm. Then, in October 1968, a local farmer offered her two cheetah cubs, which she accepted.
However, the cubs had been acquired without the necessary permits and, when they enquired about obtaining these permits, the cubs were confiscated and sent to the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
in Pretoria
.
Meanwhile, the Zoo had already established a successful captive breeding programme, but further expansion was limited due to the lack of land available in its urban setting. Consequently, they had been considering acquiring a more rural breeding site.
Ann and her eldest brother, Godfrey, thus offered to the Zoo management the use of their facilities for captive breeding programmes. This offer was accpted and the centre officially opened on 16 April 1971.
Ann van Dyk received the gold medal award of the South African Nature Foundation for her contribution towards captive breeding of cheetah in 1988.
The Centre has recently been renamed The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre as a tribute to the woman who has dedicated her life to saving rare and endangered species.
list of the South African Red Data Book for Terrestrial Mammals in 1986. Its success can be seen from the fact that, since its inception, over 600 cheetah cubs have been born at the centre, which is a dramatic increase from the period when the total cheetah population of South Africa was estimated at only 700.
In addition to its cheetah breeding success, the centre has also had other notable successes:
Captive breeding
Captive breedingis the process of breeding animals in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife reserves, zoos and other conservation facilities; sometimes the process is construed to include release of individual organisms to the wild, when there is sufficient...
facility for cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
s and other animals that is situated in the foothills of the Magaliesberg
Magaliesberg
The Magaliesberg is a mountain range extending from Pretoria in the north of the Gauteng Province to a point south of Pilanesberg, in the North West Province, South Africa...
mountain range (near Brits
Brits, North West
Brits is a large town and district situated in a fertile, citrus, vegetable and grain-producing area that is irrigated by the waters of the Hartbeespoort Dam in North West Province of South Africa. It is close to the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, which includes Pretoria and...
and the Hartbeespoort Dam
Hartbeespoort Dam
Hartbeespoort Dam also known as Harties is a dam situated in the North West Province of South Africa . It lies in a valley to the south of the Magaliesberg mountain range and north of the Witwatersberg mountain range, about 35 kilometres west of Pretoria...
) in the North West Province of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
History
The centre is situated on what was originally Van Dyk's parent's chickenChicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
farm, which they acquired in 1950. Due to her compassionate nature, Ann soon had a collection of stray and injured cheetas on the farm. Then, in October 1968, a local farmer offered her two cheetah cubs, which she accepted.
However, the cubs had been acquired without the necessary permits and, when they enquired about obtaining these permits, the cubs were confiscated and sent to the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa is the national zoo of South Africa. It is situated in the city of Pretoria and was founded by J. W. B...
in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
.
Meanwhile, the Zoo had already established a successful captive breeding programme, but further expansion was limited due to the lack of land available in its urban setting. Consequently, they had been considering acquiring a more rural breeding site.
Ann and her eldest brother, Godfrey, thus offered to the Zoo management the use of their facilities for captive breeding programmes. This offer was accpted and the centre officially opened on 16 April 1971.
Ann van Dyk received the gold medal award of the South African Nature Foundation for her contribution towards captive breeding of cheetah in 1988.
The Centre has recently been renamed The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre as a tribute to the woman who has dedicated her life to saving rare and endangered species.
Other breeding programmes
Subsequent to its cheetah breeding programme, the centre also established successful breeding programmes for several other rare and endangered species, including:- Wild Dog
- Brown HyaenaHyaenaFor the Siouxsie and the Banshees album, see Hyæna.For the group of animals commonly known as "hyaena", see Hyena.Hyaena is a genus comprising two of the living species of hyenas: the striped hyena from western Asia and northern Africa and the brown hyena from southern Africa...
- SuniSuniSuni is a very small species of antelope. It occurs in south-east Africa in dense underbrush.Suni are around 12-17 inches high at the shoulder and weigh 10-12 pounds . They are usually reddish brown, darker on their back than their sides and legs. The belly, chin, throat and insides of legs are...
- DuikerDuikerA duiker is any of about 21 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa.Duikers are shy and elusive creatures with a fondness for dense cover; most are forest dwellers and even the species living in more open areas are quick to disappear...
- Cape VultureCape VultureThe Cape Griffon or Cape Vulture , also known as Kolbe's Vulture, is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is endemic to southern Africa, and is found mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and in some parts of northern Namibia...
- Riverine RabbitRiverine RabbitThe Riverine Rabbit , also known as the Bushman Rabbit or Bushman Hare, is one of the rarest and most endangered mammals in the world, with probably no more than 200 individuals left. This rabbit has an extremely limited distribution area, found only in the central and southern regions of the Karoo...
Notable achievements
The centre first achieved international recognition for bringing the cheetah back from the brink of extinction - it was largely due to the centre that the cheetah was removed from the endangered speciesEndangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
list of the South African Red Data Book for Terrestrial Mammals in 1986. Its success can be seen from the fact that, since its inception, over 600 cheetah cubs have been born at the centre, which is a dramatic increase from the period when the total cheetah population of South Africa was estimated at only 700.
In addition to its cheetah breeding success, the centre has also had other notable successes:
- The first breeder of the rare king cheetah. As a result it was proved that the king cheetah was not a separate species but genetically identical to the true cheetah, but only with a variation of coat pattern and colouring.
- The breeding and release of captive-born African Wild Dog packs (southern AfricaSouthern AfricaSouthern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
's most endangered carnivoreCarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
), into a natural habitat. - A breeding nucleus of the highly endangered Riverine Rabbit has been donated to the KarooKarooThe Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...
National Park, a natural habitat of the species. - A breeding nucleus of the Suni antelope was donated to the Kruger National ParkKruger National ParkKruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers and extends from north to south and from east to west.To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is...
as a resulting of the centre's highly successful Suni breeding programme.