Kgalagadi Cheetah Project Tracking Flight

Friday the thirteenth of June might have been unlucky for the superstitious, but not for the pilots of The Bateleurs and the researchers of The Tony and Lisette Lewis Foundation's Kgalagadi Cheetah Project. The day before Jay van Deventer had kindly flown from Gauteng to Twee Rivieren in his nifty little motorized glider. Up until then the week had been characterized by strong winds, but by Thursday they had died down and Friday was an ideal day for flying. We currently have 8 cheetahs radio collared and it is a tall order keeping track of all of them. After fitting the antennae to the wheel struts Jay and I took off at 10 am. By 1400 we had located all 8 individuals and managed to get visuals on half of them. Because they range so widely it is virtually impossible to locate all of them from the ground in a week. Once again we are indebted to the Bateleurs for their much valued support for our project and look forward to future flights. Each flight is invaluable for this important cheetah conservation project.

Gus Mills