- 34 minutes ago
Kevin Richardson and the team at Dinokeng Nature Reserve are preparing four rescued female cheetah cubs for the wild, and the next step is a tense first round of vaccinations. After their mother was killed by a lion, the cubs were brought into care and nicknamed the Spice Girls for their fiery, wild nature.
Dr. Caldwell visits to check on the cheetah cubs while Kevin explains the plan to raise them alongside two other rescued cheetahs, including the Mystery Two from the Botswana border. The groups are being kept separate for now so they can be inoculated, dewormed, and gradually introduced without spreading parasites before they are mixed together as a larger group.
Kevin also reflects on the Miracle 8 cheetah cubs and what happened after they were released, offering a clear look at cheetah conservation, rewilding, and the realities of managing rescued predators in southern Africa. It is a hands-on wildlife rescue and animal rehabilitation story with veterinary care, reserve management, and the long road back to the bush.
For viewers searching for cheetah rescue, wildlife conservation, animal rehabilitation, rewilding stories, and African reserve documentaries, this episode follows the real work behind raising orphaned cheetah cubs for release. It also fits searches for animal rescue stories, big cat conservation, and educational nature content about cheetah cubs in South Africa.
Dr. Caldwell visits to check on the cheetah cubs while Kevin explains the plan to raise them alongside two other rescued cheetahs, including the Mystery Two from the Botswana border. The groups are being kept separate for now so they can be inoculated, dewormed, and gradually introduced without spreading parasites before they are mixed together as a larger group.
Kevin also reflects on the Miracle 8 cheetah cubs and what happened after they were released, offering a clear look at cheetah conservation, rewilding, and the realities of managing rescued predators in southern Africa. It is a hands-on wildlife rescue and animal rehabilitation story with veterinary care, reserve management, and the long road back to the bush.
For viewers searching for cheetah rescue, wildlife conservation, animal rehabilitation, rewilding stories, and African reserve documentaries, this episode follows the real work behind raising orphaned cheetah cubs for release. It also fits searches for animal rescue stories, big cat conservation, and educational nature content about cheetah cubs in South Africa.
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AnimalsTranscript
00:06all right a very good morning everyone today we got dr. Caldwell coming in just waiting for him
00:11he's going to be coming to check up on the four female cheetah cubs that we recently acquired
00:22just to recap quickly we got a call from Denneking North the poor mother of these cubs was killed by
00:31a lion we went about this rescue operation to try and locate and get these cubs into our care
00:40so that we could at least give them a shot on life yep yeah
01:05in
01:21So they've become affectionately known as the Spice Girls or the Spicy Girls because they are quite fiery.
01:28What I wanted to do, guys, I just wanted to touch on quickly what is going to happen and what
01:35our job is in terms of raising these cubs.
01:40We've got now two groups of cheetah cubs.
01:44We've got the two that came from the Botswana border, the one poor female lost her eye.
01:49So there's one female with a missing eye.
01:52We had to enucleate the eye and there's a male and then we have these four females.
01:58They are not together at the moment.
02:01The reason being is we want to inoculate these four before we mix them all together as a group.
02:08We also haven't had a chance to detick them properly.
02:11So we don't want them to be passing parasites from another area to cubs that are parasite free.
02:22So we just wanted to eliminate that.
02:24But what we have done is we've put them next door to each other so that they can get used
02:30to hissing at each other and get that all out the way.
02:33The aim is, yes, the aim is to put all of them together so that we have six.
02:38So we've got the Mystery 2 and the Spice Girls and they're going to make for a mystery spicy mix.
02:47The Mystery 2 are, so they are actually in the control of the Cheetah Outreach Trust and they will be
02:56the ones that will consult with us as to where best it's going to be to release those cheetah.
03:03And the Spice Girls, the four female cheetah, it's really up to Denneking Game Enterprises, that board, to decide what
03:14is going to happen to those four female cheetah cubs.
03:19Guys, thank you for your support.
03:21I really appreciate it.
03:22I mean, the support and, you know, the support for these new cheetah has been completely overwhelming.
03:30It's been really, really wonderful.
03:32It does take a village.
03:34I have said that many, many times.
03:36We are just offering a hand.
03:40We are lending a hand in helping to raise these animals, to give them the best opportunity at survival.
03:48And the reason we are equipped to do that is we have the facilities and we also have the knowledge.
03:53So, you know, that is why these facilities or these organizations are choosing us.
04:00They're saying, hey, we believe in your ability to get these animals to the best versions of themselves before they
04:07can go out into the world, to give them the best fighting chance.
04:10But we cannot do that on our own.
04:12And that's why I say a mega thanks and shout out to all of you, each and every one of
04:18you who's either just shared this video or shared the social or actually donated to the cause.
04:25Massive thanks.
04:26And without further ado, let's get into today's video.
04:30It's going to be chaotic.
04:31These cheetah are as wild as snakes.
04:34They are not going to take lightly to dock Caldwell wanting to pole syringe them.
04:38So, I'm going to get what I'm going to get.
04:41And I hope you stay along for the ride.
04:49So, this is their first vaccine, Doc.
04:51It's a killed one.
04:53It's a killed vaccine.
04:56A four in one.
04:57It's feline herpes, calicea.
05:06There's parvovirus, or mainly parvo instead of feline pan, leuk, they're more susceptible to that, and then chlamydia.
05:16So, let me go and do that one quickly.
05:19And then what are we going to do?
05:20Take the box out and let it free, or?
05:22No, no.
05:23Just leave it there.
05:25It's a dead cell.
05:47I think we'll be able to get, at night, the Caraliga.
05:52I need to get the Caraliga center, I need the Caraliga while I use these two.
05:56Give me the two syringes.
06:10All done, Doc.
06:14Okay.
06:17You're ready?
06:18Yes.
06:24Okay.
06:26Okay.
06:34Okay.
07:10Because we've now taken on these cheetah cubs, the Miracle 8 always tends to come up.
07:17And I just wanted to touch on that because I think going forward, we need to give some clarity on
07:25what our mandate here at the Kevin Richardson Foundation is with regards to raising these animals to a healthy and
07:35strong age where they can be successfully released back into the wild.
07:39So, to just touch on the Miracle 8, guys, I must just emphasize that we were not the owners of
07:47the animals.
07:48We were merely the custodians for the period that it took to raise them up to an age where they
07:56were fit and strong enough to be released into the wild.
07:58They were actually owned by Denneking and Denneking, the animals within Denneking are owned by the landowners, all of them
08:07having shares with all the animals within the reserve.
08:10And then there is a board that is mandated to make decisions on behalf of the landowners.
08:17So, really what transpires is when the animals come of age and they're ready to be released and relocated, it's
08:25the board that tells us, right, these three are going here, these three are going there, etc., etc.
08:31They've already done the deals with these respective facilities, and sure, we do like to try and have a say,
08:39but ultimately, it's not our decision.
08:42And I hope you can understand that.
08:44That's not the way it works.
08:46Okay, so what happened to the Miracle 8?
08:49Well, I have released several videos, in fact, about the Miracle 8 and how they were doing at the time.
08:58It has been some time, as you can imagine, since we did release the Miracle 8 back into the wild.
09:04And I will just say this very briefly, where they went.
09:09Three went to a reserve.
09:11The reserve wished to remain anonymous.
09:13They didn't want the publicity that would come with having these cubs that were so famous, if you will.
09:22So, that was honoured, and in fact, I don't even think those three males were not even collared.
09:29They were taken, released into that reserve, and, you know, sent on their merry way.
09:35Obviously, they were monitored by the reserve staff there when they did come across and see them.
09:41But we didn't get any updates from those three cheetah to date.
09:47I really don't, I cannot tell you how that went.
09:51Then, the next three males went to a reserve called Amakala.
09:55And Amakala is part of showing, I think it's called a wild earth, or live earth, wild earth.
10:05I think it's wild earth, and that is transmitted live TV, I think, on YouTube.
10:12And they became quite famous, the three males at Amakala.
10:15And, in fact, they sowed their wild oats and got one of the female cheetah pregnant there.
10:22So, that is a massive success story.
10:25And Amakala was quite open to, you know, keeping everyone up to date and informed on how those three were
10:32doing.
10:32And they actually, I think, became quite a sensation and quite widely followed and liked on the social channel.
10:42So, there's two completely different methodologies there we have.
10:46Two completely different methodologies on two reserves.
10:50One wanting nothing to do with the publicity, and the other not minding it at all.
10:55The two females, guys, went to a reserve called Gondwana.
10:59Unfortunately, the one female was not so lion savvy, and she got taken by a lion.
11:07The other female was a lot better, and she actually lived quite a long time, managed to breed, had some
11:16cubs.
11:16But when she had cubs, and when she was with her cubs, she was compromised with having to decide what
11:25to do.
11:25And we could only assume that she was defending her cubs from lion, trying to lead the lions away from
11:31her cubs when she got killed by a lion.
11:34Those cubs were sent off to another facility where they were being in the process of being rewilded.
11:41So, guys, that is what happened.
11:44In my opinion, it's a massive success story because none of those cheetahs would be alive if there wasn't any
11:51intervention from Danny King's side.
11:54Just to recap on the Miracle 8, it started off with five, and then three joined the group.
12:01And the three that joined the group, their mother was also killed by a lion.
12:05So, the five that were part of the Miracle 5 in the beginning, then became the Miracle 8.
12:12Those five, their mother was killed in a snare, and her body was chopped up, if you recall that video,
12:20disgusting, for body parts.
12:23So, yeah, two big threats to cheetah.
12:26One is man, and two is lion.
12:30And often I get asked the question, well, what can we do about these lion attacks?
12:36I mean, come on, we can't just have these cheetahs being killed by a lion.
12:39Unfortunately, guys, when you have a reserve that has a lion as the apex predator within that reserve,
12:48unfortunately, there is going to be incidents of cheetah mortality.
12:52This is normal.
12:53This happens all over.
12:54It happens in the Kruger Park.
12:56It happens everywhere.
12:58The reserves that don't have lion, obviously, the cheetah do fare better,
13:01but those reserves are at capacity many times.
13:06And so, when you are at the point of your rehabilitation or rewilding,
13:11and you say, hey, guys, we have X amount of female cheetah, X amount of male, who wants,
13:17you've got to see at the time who is able to take those cheetah.
13:22All right.
13:22So, what I will say is a female cheetah are in more demand than male cheetah.
13:29Unfortunately, that's the way it works.
13:31It just takes one male to impregnate a lot of females.
13:34But females are the ones that obviously can procreate and generate the offspring
13:40that all these reserves are wanting to take on in what's known as the cheetah meta population.
13:49So, in other words, the meta population is a population of cheetah around southern Africa.
13:56And humans then decide where the genetics are going to go to keep this population viable.
14:04So, instead of letting what cheetah just do to their own devices and leaving them be,
14:12what has essentially happened is you're creating this big population of cheetah,
14:17and you are letting those genetics be spread all over that population.
14:21So, that's the theory behind the cheetah meta population.
14:25All right, guys.
14:26So, pretty straightforward.
14:29Not the easiest thing to film at all, which is good because we like the fact that these cubs are
14:38so wild.
14:40One thing that I can say is that with the Miracle 8, especially the 5,
14:50they were so young, guys, that when they were found,
14:55that it's almost impossible not to have some form of imprinting on the humans that are their caregivers
15:04because all they see is these people giving them their food.
15:09And when they're very, very young, the frequency of feeding is plenty.
15:16It's a lot.
15:17So, the 5 actually were blessed to have the 3.
15:24And those 3 were a lot older and a lot wilder,
15:28and they fared a lot better because of that instinct, that natural fear,
15:32and, you know, that feistiness.
15:35So, we are very, very happy about these guys.
15:39The 2 seem to be 1 month older than the 4,
15:43which will obviously be absorbed as they get older.
15:47And at the moment, they are equally feisty.
15:51So, both groups are very feisty.
15:54They are very unsure of humans.
15:58They really don't like people.
16:00And they're certainly not going to saddle up to any human being.
16:03So, very, very happy about it.
16:07First round of inoculations for the 4 are done and dusted.
16:11The others have had 2.
16:13They need their 3rd.
16:14So, when the 4 get their 2nd lot of inoculations,
16:17we will do the other 2's 3rd inoculations.
16:21So, all good.
16:22It went really, really well.
16:25And the next step is putting them all together.
16:28So, I hope you enjoyed that, guys.
16:30If you did, please do like and share.
16:34If it's the first time you're coming across the channel,
16:37yeah, why not subscribe?
16:39So, you can continue to follow some of the cool stories
16:44that we have to tell.
16:46So, there we have it.
16:47The feisty or the spice girls, as Caroline calls them.
16:51The spicy girls.
16:53And the mystery too.
16:56So, I don't know what you'll call them
16:59when they are all put together.
17:01Maybe the mystery spice.
17:05But anyway.
17:08Guys, thanks for watching.
17:09Till next time.
17:10From me, Kevin.
17:12Bye.
17:18Bye.
17:19Bye.
17:29Bye.
17:38Bye.
17:39Bye.
17:40Bye.