ATLANTIC
OCEANINDIAN
OCEANAFRICAASIACOURTESY OF CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND
14 NAT GEO KIDS^ •^ JUNE / JULY 2022 (ASTUR LYING DOWN); MARTIN WALZ (MAP)WIN A SAFARI PRIZE PACK, INCLUDING THIS BOOK AND PLUSHIE!
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After two days of driving, the team
arrives at a rescue center run by the
Cheetah Conservation Fund, an organi-
zation that cares for cheetahs that
were removed from the wild at a young
age. There, veterinarian Anna Ciezarek
takes over examining a distressed
Astur.
“It’s always stressful rescuing a new
animal,” Ciezarek says. “You don’t know
what sort of condition they’re going to
be in, how they’ll behave, and what
you’re going to need to do.”
Ciezarek sedates Astur before exam-
ining him carefully. The cheetah doesn’t
have any wounds and his joints seem to
move fine. A blood test shows he has no
infectious diseases, and a test of his
poop finds no parasites.
“Ultimately, Astur didn’t need treat-
ment,” Ciezarek says. “Other cubs aren’t
so lucky—many of them arrive in very
poor condition.”A New Home
The skinny Astur is physically fine,
but he’s clearly upset. To help him adjust
to the rescue center and feel safe, care-
givers put him in a comfortable enclo-
sure. They also focus on having short,Cheetah
cubs chirp to
communicate.friendly interactions with the cat so he’ll
begin to trust his human caretakers.
According to Joe Bottiglieri, the center’s
cheetah care manager when Astur
arrived, just being near the cub without
looking scary can be helpful. “Gaining
their trust takes time and patience,”
Bottiglieri says.
Now two years old, Astur has become
more settled at the rescue center. He
lives with four other male cheetahs
named Bagheer, Cizi, Darth, and Shamsi.
His caregivers say Astur still doesn’t like
people very much, but he’s learned to
respond to commands like “come here”
and “down.” When Astur cooperates, he
gets treats like antelope, a favorite
cheetah snack.Protecting Cheetahs
Because he was taken from the wild
so young, Astur doesn’t know how to
survive on his own; he’ll spend the rest
of his life at the rescue center. Still,
he’ll hang out with fellow cheetahs, play
on plenty of climbing structures, chase
around lots of toys, and be cared for
by experts who know how to keep
him healthy.
Meanwhile, the fight against cheetah
smuggling in this region continues.
“These animals belong to the wild, not
in a sanctuary,” says Shukri Haji Ismail
Mohamoud, Somaliland’s environment
minister. “We’ll keep fighting for chee-
tahs like Astur to be safe.”Where
cheetahs
liveRESCUED
CHEETAH CUB
FREYA EXPLORES
HER ENCLOSURE
IN SOMALILAND.