SANParks.org Forums

Hello everybody!


Some of you might already gave a look to the following topic http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=23054,
in wich we tried to follow Skinny the cheetah cub, and his mother, in the KTP.
Well, it seems like skinny may have broken one of his front leg, as he was seen badly limping lately.
I guess a cheetah with such a wound can't live long in such a place.
As I have links with this cheetah now, I can't help trying to find a way to do something.
I know it may not be in the SANPARKS policy, where nature is supposed to follow it's course.

What is your opinion?
If some Sanparks official reads this, can you help us?


I am ready to help financially if necessary.
If others feel the same way, please tell it here, and pass the word.


I hope it is not too late yet! Sorry if I intrude too much into Sanparks management of wildlife

It breaks my heart to say, he is probably going to die. Wish we could help, sorry Pikasso, I followed your thread & I know you feel very close to the cub. I hope something good happens.

Please help us SAVE SKINNY !! :

And tell us what we can do !!!

Yes, but every rule needs to be broken, now and then!

Bert, as a mod, can you get in touch with someone in the KTP to learn more?

I have just received this incredible and nice mail from Dr Gus & Margie Mills, as I had sent them an email regarding the situation.
I think no other one can take the best decision about it, and I am relieved to find that they follow the cheetahs so closely.
This message gives me some hope... I reproduce part of it here, and I don't think Gus or Margie Mills will mind.
Thanks a lot, again, to them, for what they do !


"The mother and cub you saw are Elena and Anton (or Mummy and Skinny if you like). We first met Elena in September 2006 when she was still with her mother Lizette who was the first cheetah that we collared. Shortly afterwards Lizette and Elena parted company as Elena was now over 18 months old. We collared Elena in the middle of 2007 and in September she gave birth to 4 cubs of which Anton is the last remaining one. The other three died off, or should I say disappeared, one by one and by the end of January this year Anton was the only one left. We think Elena was really struggling to find enough food to feed the cubs and they were getting weaker and weaker and couldn’t keep up with her when she went searching for food. We have spent a lot of time watching and following this family and now Anton has been badly injured on one of his front legs. We managed to find out what happened by using our bushman tracker Buks to backtrack their spoor. Elena caught a steenbok male and what we think happened is that, as we have actually seen lately, she does not kill the prey but just wounds it so that Anton can learn to kill himself. We found the skull of the steenbok and one of the horns was broken off, a fresh break, and there was hair on the break, so we think that the steenbok caught Anton in the leg and the horn broke off. He has survived for 10 days and is full as his mother caught another steenbok, but although the leg is not quite as swollen, he still cannot put any weight on it. These animals are incredibly tough and we just hope that he can get through this and recover. I think his biggest threat is being spotted by another predator, because he would not be able to escape.

Gus & Margie Mills "

is nature... ... but cheetahs are in danger ...
it's seems to me that in Kruger they rescue chicken ostrich, and baby buffalo (I read that somewhere in TR)
I follow you Pikasso, I'm ready to help financially if necessary

If Gus Mills is monitoring the situation, it could not be in better hands.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) emotion and sentiment, no matter how deeply it affects some, will not come into this equation. Gus will do the right thing here, and we (must all) trust him.

From his report, it seems like the little cheetah might even overcome it.

Just don't start with a slanging match if it does not please.

what a good news from Mr. Gus Mill
yes the little is in good hands

Don't worry !!!We don't want to interfer into Gus Mills work !!! We need his experience and he did a very good job with the preservation of the cheetahs !!
We just want to say that if he needs donation or something else for helping , we are here and ready !!!

It is some consilation that the little one is being monitered by Dr Gus Mills.

It is still so heart breaking to think of the plight of any Cheetah right now. Their situation is so fragile. After reading about the establishment of the de Wildt Cheetah centre, I have grown to appreciate the incredible spirit of these most magnificent animals.

If we loose the Cheetah, we loose one of the most elegant animals ever created.

AFAIK, Dr Mills won't interfere in any way. He studies cheetah, and does not preserve them. We have to accept that in this case, nature will take its course, notwithstanding any money.
I know this sounds cruel, but it happens all the time. It is just that this has been brought to uor attention.

It is like when I watch Nat Geo, and see lions kill cubs, I have to remind myself that it happened possibly years ago, even though it gets to me, and the film crew did nothing to stop it.

Gus will only intervene if the injury was man caused (Human ran over the foot in their car at a sighting or whatever) but he wont touch it if it was caused by natural things like a fight with a leopard. Years ago I was one of those who tried for days to help him try and find a Cheetah in Kruger who had somehow managed to get its lower jaw caught in its collar and it was starving a slow death. We did every road and track in the Mlondozi Dam area. It was so long ago all I remember I had to get back to JHB to work eventually and cant remember if they found the Cheetah...oh I see my Avatar is back after a week or so in the Wilderness...thanks to whoever fixed it

I have thought about this for a couple of hours now and i still do not know where i stand. I believe that nature has a reason for everything and that we should let it take it's course and not interfere, i also wonder where the line is drawn, what animals are to be left and which are to be given aid? However, this little guy has captured hearts, and the plight of the Cheetah is a consideration, plus he has done well to get to the age when he is approaching independence and learning the skills he needs to go it alone. Then i have to remind myself that a wild animal is subject to the rules of the wild.

The fact that this topic has been started is testimony to the dedication and love of conservation this forums members have.
Well done Guys and I pray that 'skinny' pulls through on his own.

Guys, I find your responses very balanced and thoughtful.
I am in the same reflection myself, why save an animal and not the other?
But , hey, true, cheetahs are rare. A little help wouldn't unbalance nature's course.
Imagine Gus & Margie Mills, for some reason, hesitating just a little bit wether to intervene or not, well maybe this thread might help flip the balance on skinny's side. And Skinny is the cheetah we have been following, so...



Anyway, I trust they will do the right thing.

And, merde! Skinny will recover by himself !

... merde... is a word for good luck