What would’ve been a gruelling 30-hour, 3,000km road trip turned into a smooth few hours in the sky, all thanks to the incredible support from The Bateleurs and volunteer pilot Nick Lincoln!The adventure kicked off over the Freedom Day long weekend. While most were soaking up the sun or enjoying time with family, myself and Bateleurs pilot, Nico were hard at work at Rand Airport in Gauteng, determined to figure out how to fit a cheetah crate into a Piper Cherokee. The mission? To relocate a female cheetah from Buffelsdrift Game Reserve near Oudtshoorn to Ukuzwana in Mpumalanga, a vital step in building a new breeding population there.

After hours of removing nearly every seat from the plane, we hit a snag: the crate would fit… but just not through the doors. A frustrating setback, but a lesson learned!

Enter hero of the day, The Bateleurs’ pilot Nick Lincoln, who quickly offered to help. Plans were reshuffled, vets and provincial officials rebooked, and by Tuesday, I was on a flight with Nick and the crate heading to Oudtshoorn via Durban.

Wednesday brought much-needed rain to the region, great for the Karoo, not so great for flying with a cheetah. But with a lucky break in the weather, we were able to safely sedate the female, load her up, and take off. The breathtaking flight over Lesotho was our reward for a hard day’s work, and within 5.5 hours of darting her, we were touching down at Piet Retief Airport, greeted by the waiting Ukuzwana team.

With both a coalition of males and a female now successfully reintroduced, the new breeding population in Mpumalanga is officially taking shape. This milestone would not have been possible without the incredible teamwork and dedication from so many. We are deeply grateful to Ikhala Veterinary Clinic and Wildest Vet for their expert care, to Buffelsdrift Game Reserve and Lalibela Game Reserve for generously donating cheetahs to the project, and to the various provincial offices, especially Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency for their tireless efforts to restore cheetah to this region. Most importantly, our heartfelt thanks go to the Ukuzwana Witbad Foundation for creating the safe space these cheetahs so desperately need to thrive.

A very special thank you to The Bateleurs for your ongoing support of our work, especially of these critical translocations. We truly couldn’t have done this without you.

We’re filled with hope and excitement for what’s to come and look forward to sharing updates as this cheetah population settles and grows!