Inside Africa’s Dangerous Cheetah Rehabilitation Program (4K Documentary)

8 a.m. at Okunjima. A once barren landscape in central Namibia, now transformed into a haven for wildlife. In a holding enclosure at the AfriCat Foundation, the cheetahs are on the move. This group of four males and two females were rescued as cubs, but are now mature enough to be given a second chance in the wild. Since they were youngsters, these cheetahs have been cared for by rescue and release officer Dave Houghton and director of welfare Carla Conradi. Who is that? It's Spud. If everything goes to plan, this will be one of the last times they'll be letting them into their feeding enclosure. They never seem to learn. They get fed five times a week. They still don't learn that they all get one piece, you know, they don't have to fight over it. In the wild, only male cheetahs hunt and feed together. The females are solitary. The fact that these cheetahs have lived and fed as a mixed group is unusual. As soon as the gates open, they'll run in for their food. The shy ones will grab their food and run out, and the ones that are more bold will probably stay in the area and eat in the shade of the tree. Cheetahs are one of the least powerful of the big cats. They are often driven off kills by other animals, such as leopards or hyenas. It's a lesson that feisty Coco, raised in captivity, has yet to learn. Coco's actually quite a brave cheetah, and she will give you trouble if she got half the chance. And sure enough, when Coco spots Dave entering the enclosure to retrieve her bowl, she defends her meal aggressively. Coco adopts a defensive threat posture. Legs stiffened, head below shoulder level. Mexican standoff. Behaving like this when confronted by a hungry leopard could get Coco into serious trouble. But here, she definitely has the edge, and Dave knows better than to turn and run. You go and find your food. Yeah, you mustn't turn your back. When you're in with a big cat, you must always have your eyes on what's going on. Coco's not afraid of humans, because she was captured from the wild as a cub and kept as a pet. The team stepped in when her owner failed to feed her properly. Coco's companion, Bones, had a much more traumatic start in life. His mother was shot by a hunter. And the reason why his name is Bones is because he really was a bag of bones when he came here. But as a result of being half-starved, he has a real love of food, and he has never forgotten that. And sure enough, not content with just one serving, Bones is soon on the lookout for second helpings. He's looking to see if there's more food. He is a bit of a pig. Bones' greed could soon be a lifesaver. In just over a week, the cheetahs will be released here. A 40,000-acre wildlife reserve, designed to give cheetahs like Bones a second chance of freedom. Tomorrow marks the start of an emotional process, when the cats move into a holding enclosure adjoining the release site. We've put in many hours into making them better when they've been injured, bringing them up, hand-rearing them. So this opportunity is going to be an amazing experience for all of us. There are some hard lessons ahead of them. There's sharp hooves and sharp claws and horns. Some of them will make it, and certainly some of them won't. But that's the chance we have to take. They do belong in the wild, they do deserve a second chance. Carla and Dave hope the cheetahs' instincts are strong. Their very survival could depend on them. Needles and syringes. Needles and syringes. Good. After months of planning, it's time for the first move. In just a few days, Coco's group will be released onto the reserve. But first, they need to be transferred to a holding area. A dedicated team, including staff and volunteers from AFRICAT, and veterinary surgeon Mark Jago, face a gruelling schedule. This is not something we do every day. Thank God, because it's quite a stressful experience for us. Each cheetah has to be darted and then transferred to the clinic for essential vaccinations and a general health check. It's stressful for everyone, especially the cheetahs. They know the dart gun, and as soon as they see it, they start pacing backwards and forwards. The cheetahs will also have radio collars attached, enabling the team to track them once they're released into the reserve. They have to be collared because we have to monitor them on a daily basis, and finding a cat in 16,000 hectares is virtually impossible without a collar. Let's rock and roll. While the team sets up stations at the clinic, Dave and Mark prepare to dart Coco and Bones. The cheetahs know something is up and have become anxious. Dave and Mark must work quickly. Dave has to determine the range before Mark can carry out the darting. Bones is darted, closely followed by Coco. Once they're down, the race is on. Cheetahs are unable to regulate their body temperature under anaesthetic. It's 11 o'clock, and nearly 80 degrees. Dave needs to get them in the shade as soon as possible. We just need water on this one. Overheating in this country is a big issue, because obviously it's so hot. By the time you dart it, then the temperature is already above what it should be. And then if they fall down in the sun and go to sleep in the sun, then it's, you know, it's even worse. So that's why we carry a lot of water and wet towels and things. Bones and Coco are loaded, and under the cover of cool wet towels and a shade cloth, set off for the clinic. The team is already extremely busy. There are nearly 30 other rescued cheetahs receiving health checks today. These are the Foundation's permanent residents, too old or habituated to be released into the wild. But just as the team are about to make space for Bones and Coco, an emergency. One of the older resident cheetahs, a seven-year-old male named Cassie, is overheating. He needs fluids, and the team has to get his temperature down as quickly as possible. Foundation director Tammy Hort takes charge. But what we have to do is, once it's on the table, is to stabilize the temperature as fast as we can. So we need to use fans and water, and this is the most important thing that we're trying to do now. When last has temperature taken? Has this been reset? OK, it's on 40, 49, 41. Carla monitors Cassie's temperature. It seems to go up. Even after you've started cooling, it goes up to 41.5. A cheetah's normal body temperature is 38 degrees. Anything above 40 is serious, and can lead to brain damage. 41.6. If it hits 42, it could be fatal. When Dave and Carla decided to pursue their dreams in the wilds of Namibia, they had to sacrifice a lot of things that most people would take for granted. But after 15 years, they've adapted to life in the African bush. We are fairly remote here. When you do a shopping trip, it's an hour's drive to the closest shop. One has to plan for at least a week, and sometimes two weeks in advance, so your salad and your vegetables don't always taste as nice at the end of that time as they did when you first bought them. Recipes are never the same as what they are in the book, because half the ingredients aren't even available in this country, so you have to make them up. So dishes probably never taste what they're supposed to taste like, because we keep on having to substitute ingredients. Right now, Dave and Carla have other things on their mind. On the Okunjima Wildlife Reserve in Namibia, preparations are underway to release a group of six rescued cheetahs onto a new 40,000-acre site. At the clinic, the team's attention has been diverted by a cheetah named Cassie, who is overheating. Vet Hank Birchinger and the team have been trying to reduce his temperature for nearly 15 minutes. If they fail, it could be fatal. These are just cold blocks, freezer blocks, trying to get the temperature down a little bit quicker. Pat, the temperature's now up to 41.9. If Cassie's temperature reaches 42 degrees, he could die from irreversible brain damage. Everybody's keeping the cat cool, and the fans are keeping the cat cool, but the idea is to finish everything that we need to do as soon as possible and get the temperature down, get the cat in the box so we can wake it up. Cassie also needs his vaccinations and health checks. It's not long before the procedures are complete, but the team still has to get his temperature down. Everyone waits for the next reading. After what feels like an age... Look, I hope you can breathe now. 41.4. We have to see especially that it stays below 41.5, and if we let animals get over 42, they end up dying. Cassie's out of the woods. A drip has been attached to administer vital fluids, and he'll be monitored over the coming hours. We've done virtually everything we can do, and he'll be all right. He's always worrying. With Cassie safe, the team can turn their attention to Bones and Coco, two of the cheetahs scheduled for release. Once they're groomed and vaccinated, radio collars are attached, which will enable the team to track them once they're in the reserve. Meanwhile, Bones and Coco's companions pace nervously as Mark and Dave return with the dart gun. Coco's siblings, Frankie and Spud, are darted. Followed by five-year-old Hammer and his sister, Tongs. Hammer and Tongs came to Africat as orphans when their mother was killed by a farmer. In the wild, male cheetahs are absent fathers, playing no part in the raising of young. If the team hadn't stepped in, Hammer and Tongs would have died. This is Tongs, who's the final of the six. She's now got a new collar on, which is going to last her the duration of her stay in the big camp. I think she's in good nick, isn't she, Mark? The one tooth is a wee bit. No, she's got to go to the dentist. Even a minor dental issue could cause huge problems once Tongs is released. An infection could be fatal, so for now, her chance of freedom will have to be placed on hold. Wayne Hansen has arrived in time to see Tongs placed in recovery. As founder of the organisation, Wayne was here when the reserve was a barren landscape. His dream was to transform the land into a place where cheetahs could thrive. He's happy to see everyone working together to turn that dream into a reality. We are doing this as a team, but after this is a big powwow about the most important thing. Right now, it's all about the rehabilitation of the new set of cats going into their new environment. The cheetahs have recovered from their anaesthetic. And while Tongs will have to wait to see the dentist, for Coco and the others, it's the start of an exciting new chapter. Everyone's really excited, especially the humans. All the team here that were helping us with the health checks all want to come down and see them go into their new camp and the start of their new life, so we want to get down there and let's get on with it. Before they're released onto the main reserve, the cheetahs will spend a few days in a five-acre, purpose-built soft-release camp. The camp allows the team to monitor the cheetahs to ensure they've suffered no ill effects from the anaesthetic. It also gives the cheetahs time to acclimatise to life outside the enclosure they've lived in since they were cubs. If all goes well, the team will release all five cheetahs into the reserve in just ten days' time. Dave doesn't want to hang around. It's late afternoon, and the temperature is still in the mid-80s. The cheetahs need water and shade. The sooner they're released, the better. For Dave, Carla and the rest of the team, this moment is the culmination of years spent caring for these five cheetahs. I'm very excited, and I'm sure they are as well, shame. They want to get out now, and it's time to move on. For Bones and Coco, it's the first tentative steps to life back in the wild. OK, one, two, three. OK. It's OK, babies. OK. Just hang on, just hang on. In the wild, cheetahs establish hunting territories, which they guard fiercely. It will take Bones, Coco and the others a while to adjust. But in the meantime, Dave and Carla can finally relax. Stage one of the release programme has been a complete success. It's one step closer to the whole new beginning of another life for them, and for us. It's exciting to see cats that you've cared for for so many years, having a second chance to hunt and be on their own. It's pretty nerve-wracking as well, because as Carla said, we've raised them and looked after them. And alright, in here it's not a problem, but once they get out there, there's things that they don't know about, like leopards and hyenas. So they've got a lot of learning to do, and hopefully they're going to get it right. Alongside feisty Coco, her brothers Frankie and Spud, Bones and the largest of the group, Hammer, complete the gang of five. In ten days' time, the gates will open, and their challenge will begin. We'll follow their story as they try to survive in the wilds of Namibia.