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| We rely on the generous donations and
support of volunteers and supporters to continue our vital work with vulnerable animals
and people. |
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Watch the Lucky the cheetah ad
Our new female cheetah cub may be only about nine months old, but already she has had a
lifetime of experiences and is starring in an advert for Volkswagen! This is Lucky the
cheetah's story. Lucky the cheetah
In January 2009, N/a’an ku sê received a call from a farm in the East of Namibia
who had caught a pair of cheetah cubs - a brother and sister. They had been caught back in November
as the farmer wanted to tame the cubs, but he found that they were already too old.
The cubs were brought to the farm and immediately we could see that the female had very swollen
toes on her back leg and was limping slightly. The brother had been caught in a box trap but
his sister had been caught using an archaic and potentially lethal steel jaw gin trap. The
cubs were put into one of the temporary enclosures with another four orphan cheetahs of about
the same age. Our female cheetah came to be called Lucky for having lived through her barbaric
capture.
Rudie darted Lucky to have a closer look at her injury; there was a hole in her foot where you
could see right through to her bones. Rudie stitched up as much as he could and bandaged up her
leg. Our vet was called out to take a look and decided she needed to go into the clinic in
Windhoek. Here, her foot was x-rayed and it was discovered that where the ligaments had been
so badly torn and were pulled away from the bone, it would be impossible to save her foot.
Had Lucky been brought to us immediately upon capture it may have been a different story. As
it was, Ian had no choice but to amputate. Her whole back leg needed to be removed; if just the
foot was removed she would continue to use the remaining stump as a leg and her hips would not
develop properly.
The operation went smoothly and our three legged cheetah has coped remarkably well. Sadly for
Lucky, she cannot go back into the wild as with only three legs and no mother to protect her, her
chances of survival would be incredibly slim. Thankfully, she is in the minority as the vast
majority of the cheetahs and leopards who come to N/a’an ku sê are soon released
back to the wild.
See
pictures of Lucky the cheetah on our
I love N/a’an ku sê Facebook fan page.
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