Over the past few weeks, there have been regular sightings of a mother cheetah and her cubs throughout the southwestern parts of the reserve. Historically, cheetahs have been scarce across the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve due to the high density of lions and leopards. This has therefore been an incredibly special time for the Londolozi Ranger and Tracker team and being able to share this with their guests.
Cheetahs can cover vast distances and are normally few and far between, being seen only occasionally. This makes record-keeping like we do with the lions and leopards, a difficult task. The more regularly we see a particular individual, the more we can contextualize what we observe and thus the more accurate our findings are. It is for this reason that in the past, we have not ascribed names to individual animals like cheetahs.
However, this female cheetah has been occupying the southern and western parts of the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve for the past few years and has started to become a permanent feature between us and our western neighbours. Below are two photos that I took almost two years ago of her and a male cub from her last litter that she raised to independence.
So for us to be able to refer to this specific female cheetah going forward the decision was made by Panthera in conjunction with the reserves that see this female and her cubs to give her a unique name. She will now officially be referred to as the Makatini Female Cheetah. “Makatini” is a Swahili word meaning “grounded and sociable”.
With the Makatini Female now having cubs, sightings of them together have provided us all with many valuable insights into the life of a cheetah on a very intimate level. This has been a huge highlight of my career as a Londolozi Ranger.
She was originally seen with four cubs but is now down to three. One is a female and two are males. The cubs have reached the age now, at roughly just over five and a half months, where they can escape most danger if it is detected early enough. They are still nowhere near as fast as their mother, but they can flee and scatter very quickly if they need to.
Both the Makatini Female and her cubs seem to be doing incredibly well thus far. It is almost unheard of for a mother cheetah to have raised an entire litter to independence, but I really do hope that the remaining three cubs all make it to adulthood.
Male cheetahs are very much like male lions in the sense that they form coalitions, which I’m hoping will be the case for the two male cubs down the line.
Over the coming months, we will definitely be putting out more updates on the Makatini Female and her cubs, and we are incredibly excited to follow their journey going forward. We can only hope that all goes well for them and they continue to thrive.
How wonderful! Unfortunately I did not get a sighting of this beautiful family last month. May she and her cubs thrive and go well.
Great to have, regular sightings of this female. Holding thumbs for her, and her cubs.
I hope to see the Makatini Female cheetah on my next trip to Londolozi. Thank you for this wonderful update on her “naming” Matt.
We had the amazing sighting of the Makatini Female Cheetah and her three cubs last month. Gratitude to Veatence and Megan for the sighting and the hour plus watching them wander, play, climb, and pose. A very special morning drive.
Wonderful news Matt and I look forward to more blog about her and her cubs as they hopefully grow into adulthood. I was disappointed I missed seeing them a couple of weeks ago by just minutes, but that is how nature is – nothing is guaranteed!
Hi, I am such a fan of cheetah supporting, I don’t agree with the bottleneck theory and so on about their frailty, they have been exploited from humans since ages, the traffic of cubs and exploiting of their lands are a damnation that has nothing to do with natural selection. I’m over the moon to see that they have been successful and given a name like lions and leopards! The adult male will be named too? How fantastic. I never get tired of looking at them! Thank you!
Thank you Matt. I’m so hoping I can see her and the cubs when I’m back at Founders in 2 weeks. Tell her she’s got to stay safe!
Oh my, wonderful news! Over my 6 years visiting Londolozi I’ve experienced four cheetah (that’s including a partner visit to Singita). So excited that it’s time now to name them.
Beautiful that the Makatini Female now had a name!
Hoping in time her offspring will have ones too!
Love the sighting!
Matt, thanks for the update. Makatini, what a beautiful name. Hoping she continues her success in raising her remaining cubs.
I was wondering if this was the same female. I’m so glad she’s decided to stick around. Here’s hoping her little ones make it to adulthood and add to the genetic diversity of the species.
What a wonderful update on the Makatini female and her three cubs. I am grate fun that I was able to see them in September and they are so beautiful. It’s wonderful that you have more or less regular sightings of this little family. I keep my fingers crossed that all three will make it to adulthood.
Do you have any idea of how old the mother might be?
Hi Matt, wonderful to see her thriving with the three cubs. Her name is fitting for her. Keep us updated with her where abouts please.
Great blog Matt, lovely to understand the logic on assigning a name to the Makatini cheetah. Super pictures of her and her cubs. Looking forward to continuing on this journey with them through you all.
Love it!
Pure joy from suburban England!
Wonderful cheetahs, and luckily to be there with all the leopards around.
This is so cool Matt!! Long live the Makatini Female cheetah, and wishing her the best of luck raising her cubs to independence!