Lisette is the magnificent female
cheetah I painted for Judy and Grant McLachlan. But in February 2006, she was a
desperately thin young cub. Her
mother had died tragically and Lisette, along with three siblings, was left to
fend for herself in one of the most unforgiving places on the planet.
Maybe divine
intervention is at work in that desert. One morning the cubs were slaking their
thirst at the waterhole. I was parked under the acacia at Craig Lockhart,
sketching, when a Landcruiser pulled up. It was none other than Dr Gus Mills,
head of Carnivore Conservation EWT. I’d read every one of his books, beginning
with his doctorate on brown spotted hyenas, his Kruger based findings on
wild dogs and subsequently his research on behaviour, hunting patterns and
reproductive success of cheetahs in the pristine Kalahari ecosystem. Over a 5
year period, Gus would fit radio collars on a number of cheetahs and compile a
comprehensive data base. Individual cheetahs can be identified by their unique
spot patterns, especially inside the limbs. The first cheetah Gus fitted with a
collar for this Kgalagadi Cheetah Project was Lisette and she has remained a
stalwart of the project ever since.
Today Lisette is
a granny. One of her cubs gave birth to 4 kittens in the dunes on my last
night there in February this year. Gus and Margie left for Oxford in March to
write up the findings of their research, but we continue to keep tabs on the
cheetahs. The McClachlans and I are planning a trip early in 2013, hoping to
locate Lisette. For now, she is immortalised in oil, beautifully framed in the
McClachlan’s lounge and the lucky newlyweds are on honeymoon....tracking Cape
Mountain Leopards at the luxurious Bushmans Kloof. Cape Leopard Trust has been
monitoring these predators in the Cedarberg since the 90s, using GPS collars
and camera traps. Research has revealed surprising data regarding their
territories and diet, dispelling many myths about the impact leopards have on
livestock and helping researches to implement innovative ways to protect
livestock and assist farmers.
They’ll be tracking Cape Mountain Leopards at Bushmans Kloof until 29 July, I’ve already started sketching my next cat......
