Injured Cheetah!

On our first day of hiking Mary got a phone call while we were out in the bush. There was an injured cheetah in Samburu National Reserve. Since I had come all that way to look for poops, that's what I did while Peter and Mary left for Samburu from Meibae. Here's what I missed:

When they got there they found the male cheetah to be resting in the shade under a bush. They had seen him walk and he was limping. They were concerned he would be unable to hunt. Once they got closer they were able to see a wound on his back leg. The leg didn't appear to be broken so they thought perhaps he just had a bad wound (a tiff with a leopard or other cheetah) and perhaps it was getting infected. Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) approved the shooting of an impala (otherwise illegal) to feed to the cheetah. The impala was coated with antibiotic to treat any infection the cheetah may have from the wound. He hungrily accepted his free meal and pulled it into the bush to eat.

A few days later we went back to look for him but he was no where to be found. The day after we got back to Nairobi we got a call that they saw him make his own kill and he wasn't limping anymore. Yay!

You can see the wound on his right back leg. We were worried here may be a tendon torn or broken bone.

Enjoying a free meal. With a belly full of food and antibiotics, he had plenty of time to rest up and heal.

Thanks to Peter for the pics! Unfortunately, the next cheetah story I have to share didn't end so well. But more on that next time...

Sorry for the quick post but our internet expires today and there is a high school group here now from Michigan so things are a little crazy right now! Heading into Nairobi on Sunday so hopefully I can catch you up on everything then!