Air Force Gets Two New Cheetahs - With Legs. (9 September, 1996)

The SA Air Force uses Cheetah jet fighters to keep our air space safe, and now it will use the four-legged cheetah to keep its runways safe.

Two young male cheetahs were released at the Louis Trichardt Air Force Base over the weekend.

They were donated to the air force by the owner of the Hoedspruit Research and Breeding Centre, Lente Roode, and the aim is to keep the animal population on the base under control.

The Louis Trichardt Air Force Base is situated amid 4 000 ha of land teeming with wildlife, which has become somewhat of a hazard to pilots and their flying machines.

Commanding officer Colonel George Snyman said the base was home to many animals, including warthogs, buck and smaller species that occasionally roamed on to the runways.

'In November 1992 we had an accident when an animal collided with one of the aircraft and caused extensive damage to the plane, but fortunately it was not serious. We have had several other close calls in the past.

'We are trying to keep the base as natural as possible and in the past we had to shoot the animals to keep their numbers down. With the cheetah we have found a natural way of keeping their numbers under control,' he said.

'Steven, a 3-year old cheetah from Botswana and Le Roux, a 1-year-old from Namibia, will be kept in an enclosure initially to help them acclimatise. A high concrete wall around the news ensures the animals do not escape and hunt on adjoining properties.

Three years ago, two cheetahs, also donated by the Hoedspruit Centre Cheetah Project, were successfully relocated to the Hoedspruit Air Force Base to serve the same purppose as Steven and Le Roux. By Melanie-Ann Feris. Courtesy of The Star.