Another amazing opportunity has arrived at GVI. We have been asked to carry out a study on the energy expenditure of the cheetahs on our reserve. It sounds so scientific and in fact it is but for us it basically means walking with the two cheetah boys, Jabu and Djuma, from sunrise to sunset, recording their behaviour and collecting urine and scat samples. Tuesday we darted the cheetah to inject them with something called "heavy water", at this time they were also put an implant in them for tracking and removed Jabu's collar replacing it with a temporary one for the study. We were originally told we would not be their for the surgery but then in the morning we were allowed to come and watch. It was very much like when we darted Zero, our male lion, helping to roll the cheetah, Jabu, over and making sure his paws didn't get in the way. The surgery itself only took about a half hour. I got to hold Jabu's head while they lifted him from the table and laid him in the shade getting a bit of Cheetah drool on my hand in the process. Alex then took first watch over them while they were in the boma. Not much happened after that as they were still sleeping from the drugs but I look forward to my first walk with them.
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