Cheetah

Summary
Unfortunately cheetah are one species that have it rough in many of the protected wildlife areas that are the typical locations for safari. This is because other predators, especially lions and spotted hyena thrive in the protected areas and they frequently take kills away from cheetah as well as destroy cheetah cubs when the opportunity arises. This has forced the majority of the remaining cheetah onto private lands where they come in conflict with humans and are typically in areas that are not accessible for safari goers. That said, fortunately there are some areas that still deliver excellent cheetah viewing.

Best Places
There are areas of open habitat throughout the Serengeti/Masai Mara system that have frequent cheetah viewing. The Ndutu area, encompassing the Southern Serengeti National Park and the portion of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) along the Serengeti border is particularly rich with cheetah during the migration calving season (approx. mid-January to mid-March). These open plains areas throughout the two parks make it easier to spot cheetah from a distance and the densities can be quite good often allowing for the viewing of multiple individuals during a stay.

Other Areas of Note
One goal in the creation of Phinda Game Reserve in South Africa was to manage it for the benefit of cheetah and sightings are fairly reliable in this large, fenced reserve area that houses 7 different habitat zones. Northern Botswana has some areas that feature excellent cheetah viewing but the cheetah density is low and the resident cheetah often utilize large home ranges making sightings difficult to predict.

Something Extra
A stay at Okonjima Lodge’s camps in support of the Africat Foundation. Africat rescues and relocates cheetah and leopard to new locations in the wild, averaging about an 80% rate of successfully relocating cats that have come into conflict with farmers. As a visitor you have the opportunity to go on foot and in vehicle to observe cheetah at close quarters that are not suitable for release but living in large enclosed areas.