01x05 - Episode 5

[bunniefuu]

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Cheetahs

have vanished

from approximately 90% of their

historic range in Africa,

and are extinct in Asia,

except for a single

isolated population

of perhaps 50 individuals

in central Iran.

What does the future

hold for the species?

- [Narrator] Hunting has

become a controversial practice

in modern times.

My name is Dan Cabela.

I'm traveling the world

to explore the true impact

that hunting is having

on our remaining

wild landscapes

This practice goes back as far a

as human history

can remember. But does it have

have a place in modern

conservation?

(upbeat music)

(commentator on

radio in background)

- High society western women

loved cat skins in the 1900s

and cheetahs were

pursued for their pelts.

They were rarer than leopards

and therefore fetched

a higher price tag.

This trade took a huge

toll on their numbers.

Cheetah skins are

still a status symbol.

(hand pounding)

A number of tribes across

Africa still use catkins

in various rights of passage.

(tribal singing)

DNA studies of those skins

indicate that they

have been traded

from thousands of miles around.

(instrumental music)

This demand still

enables an illicit trade

in leopard and cheetah

skins across Africa today,

putting further pressure

on declining populations.

There are estimated to be

only 7100 cheetahs left

in the wild.

Cheetahs are listed

as "Vulnerable"

by the International Union for

the Conservation of Nature.

And the vast majority of

their remaining population

occurs in South Africa.

These wide ranging cats

need a lot of space to roam.

Space has become an

increasingly scarce resource,

especially for wildlife.

(siren blares)

Cheetahs are not a

huntable species in Africa,

but their home range

overlaps with many areas

where hunting is the

allocated land use.

In the case where

these areas provide

well-functioning ecosystems

with abundant prey,

reintroduction

efforts have served

to dramatically

expand their range

and populations across

Africa once more.

(engine roars)

I'm traveling back

to the continent

to participate in an ambitious

relocation of our own.

(electronic beep)

The reintroduction

of an apex predator

is something our family

has become familiar with

through the lions

that were reintroduced

in the Zambezi Delta

ecosystem a few years back.

(birds whistling)

- In 2018, when we

brought the lions in,

we didn't have any idea

whether it would be a success

or whether it wouldn't be.

We've gotten out

three times more lions

than we had when

we brought them in.

- However, cheetahs are

a more sensitive species

and a lot of

research was required

to determine when they

were last in the area.

- Before we can proceed

with any reintroduction,

the ethical thing to do

is to prove that cheetah

occurred here historically.

I started sifting

through literature

on English hunters that

moved through this area

in the late 1800s

and early 1900s.

And there was a book written

called 'Wild Game

Hunting on the Zambezi'

written by a chap

called Maugham.

Goodness gracious, there it was.

You know, a cheetah, page 178.

- [Male Voiceover] Cheetahs or

Hunting Leopards are

not very numerous

in the Zambezi valley

occurring most plentifully where

reedbuck and other small

antelopes are common.

I have also seen them

in Mulanje district

of Portuguese East Africa.

- [Vincent] So then I

thought, okay, we've got this

but we just have to make sure

that the area that

he's referencing

is in Mira Maya.

And I went onto Google maps

and I typed that name in,

and I couldn't believe it.

It's practically where

the Zambezi river

goes into the sea.

I mean, it's right at

the mouth of the Delta.

(energetic music)

That was our historical record.

- [Narrator] The records

confirmed that this area was

(music drowns out speaker)

We studied the history

and determined the risks

were worth the effort

to try to restore these

magnificent creatures

to the landscape.

With the evidence

required to back us up,

we undertook the largest

cheetah reintroduction

ever attempted in history.

- [Vincent] So we had to go

and collect these animals

from conservation landscapes

across Southern Africa.

(intense music)

- [Narrator] Our objective is

to capture wild individuals

that can become

the seed population

that brings the species

back to the Zambezi Delta

after almost 100 years.

(men chatting)

(suspenseful music)

- [Vincent] In Southern Africa,

we worked with the same

cheetah subspecies.

So we can move

Cheetah pretty much

anywhere between this

geographical region

without breaking

the genetic rules.

- Ah, thanks, Kevin.

- [Vincent] We decided

on holding them

at a central quarantine boma

manned by an experienced

wildlife veterinarian

called Dr. Mike Toft.

- [David] Over the

course of a week

all of the cheetahs

were safely brought

to a central quarantine facility

before they could

begin their journey

to Mozambique.

We have captured ten suitable

wild

individuals from across

southern Africa

that are to become

the seed population

that will restore them to the

Zambezi delta once more.

They're being held

in a quarantine facility.

For Boma before they begin their

to Mozambique.

(music intensifies)

- The cheetah arrived

in individual batches

so we put them into

individual bomas

Four, two, three and a one.

- Off we go.

We're are off to

the cheetah again

because reintroductions

need fine scale monitoring.

We're gonna want to

identify the cheetah.

At the moment, I'm doing

my best to build up

a really good identity kit

based on the unique

spot patterns.

(relaxing music)

- [Mary] Who would've

thought in my lifetime

I would be moving lions

and cheetahs to save them.

I never thought that.

In fact, I never

thought I'd ever be

in Africa in my entire life.

Here I am.

- [David] For me personally,

the cheetah initiative is just

another way of giving back

and trying to recreate

the way that it once was.

- Introductions are

inherently risky affairs.

And as a result, we lose

about 15% of the cheetah

that we relocate

between protected areas.

For this particular

reintroduction,

we looked no further

than Dr. Peter Caldwell.

Of the 6,000 cheetahs

that he's immobilized

and relocated,

he's lost only one.

(faintly speaks)

- I've just loaded my darts.

I'm gonna do

one solitary female,

and then three Pelanesberg ones.

- [Narrator] With

all 10 cheetahs,

we begin the last

step of the process,

preparing them for their

journey to Mozambique.

- Put him in the middle

there, and then

- [Narrator] The team moves

as silently and

quickly as possible

to minimize the

stress on the cats.

And the opportunity

is used to gather

as much data as possible

- 68.0

- We've collected blood,

we've collected hair for DNA.

And then we've micro-chipped.

The microchip we put under the

skin at the base of the tail

and then I injected them

with some antibiotics

which prevents an

infection at the dart site,

and some vitamins.

And we're re-hydrating them with

Ringer's lactaid

drip IV and subcut.

And we are fitting

GPS and VHF collar.

- We've got the

first four loaded.

They're now in the crates,

we've got six more to go.

There's a deep

love for wildlife.

And it's always

been in our family.

- We're working a little

bit against time and light.

So we've got the ninth,

second to last one.

And they're a

little bit skittish.

We're just waiting

for the last one

maybe to come to the carcass.

- We're about to cross

the first finish line.

So we're very excited

and it's been an excellent

day for Cheetah conservation.

(upbeat music)

(foreign language)

(insects chirping)

(speaker continues

in foreign language)

- It's been a very productive

first afternoon here.

We now have our cheetahs loaded.

We've micro chipped them,

measured them.

They're in their crates.

We're loading them on

the planes this morning.

It's gonna be a big

day for the cheetahs

and a big day for all of us.

I can't wait till we

get through customs

and into Mozambique.

It's great the family's

here to see all this.

- What an exciting day, eh?

- It's either really

good or really bad

cause it's really quiet.

(both laughing)

(airplane engine sounds)

- [Narrator] After

an eventful morning,

the cats begin the final

leap of their journey.

(electronic beep)

(stamp bangs)

- [Narrator] The research team

(music intensifies)

(birds chirping)

- So we're at the final stages

It's been a process.

We spent the last three

days getting here.

It's a truth moment for sure.

We're about to let them out

and this thing's becoming

a reality quickly.

Cheetahs were once hunted

to nearly extinction.

And this is a vast hunting area.

It's because of hunting

in this vast ecosystem

we've been allowed to

bring in the cheetahs.

They're not gonna be hunt proof.

They'll never be hunt proof.

But, because of hunting

we've got 2 million acres

where cheetahs can

thrive and exist.

Our foundation has decided

to protect the ecosystem

by protecting vast landscapes

from top to bottom.

Everything benefits.

- Whoo

- Whoo

- What do you think Mary?

- I love it.

- They're beautiful aren't they?

- Oh, they are.

- I turned and

looked at my mother

and what I saw in her face

that really made it for me.

You know, there's a lot of parts

that make it for

me in this deal.

But, for her to be happy

is probably the most.

- [Narrator] The cheetahs are

kept in a holding facility

for three weeks before

they're released.

- You want to give the cheetahs

some time to acclimatize.

You also want the

cheetahs to recover

and get to know each other

in their new habitat.

- [Narrator] The final step

will be to release them

in their new home.

We've successfully

relocated 10 cheetahs

to the Zambezi Delta ecosystem.

However, they need

time to acclimatize

- Unbelievable.

- If you can keep 2

million acres in tact,

it's not just about

cheetahs and lions.

It's about everything that

inhabits that 2 million acres.

(upbeat music)

(birds chirping)

(helicopter sounds)

- When we fly over this

Delta with all its abundance,

it's not hard to imagine

a pair of cheetahs sitting out

on the side of a termite mound

looking at all of

the wild marvels.

- But there haven't been

cheetah there for probably

100 years or more.

It's taken an enormous

amount of work

to restore this landscape

to what it is today.

A better part of 25

years of anti-poaching.

We needed to totally

involve our local community.

They needed to feel that

they were a part of the

process of this whole operation.

And without one

complimenting the other,

we wouldn't be able to

achieve what we have today.

Now that we have the

cheetahs in the boma,

the plan is to release

them within about a month.

- [Narrator] It's

an emotional month

to feed them for the last time.

(music intensifies)

- So different than life.

- Another beautiful path and

who wants them go extinct,

not me.

- So after the boma period,

the next step is a

really exciting one,

and that's to release them

out into this ecosystem.

Exciting, but a

little nerve-wracking.

- Before you

release the animals,

it's important to know that

the animals are relaxed.

- We'll open up the gates

and we'll drag a

carcass out there

so that they follow

you out of the gate.

- It's really important to

understand these introductions

and get really good at them.

- Introducing cheetah

into Mari Maya

is increasing the size

of our meta population

by 30% in one relocation.

- There's not a lot of places

left with 2 million acres.

And when you look

at their commitment

to wildlife conservation

and understand that you don't

have to agree with them,

but having a hunting concession

protects such a vast space.

Hunting was once the cause

of a species decline.

It has come full circle.

It is hunting that has

created viable ecosystems

for them to repopulate.

Knowing that they're out there

makes me really proud

of the difference

that hunters can make.

(choral music)