The One-Eyed Cheetah's Fight for Freedom (4K Documentary).

At the base of the Ombarocco Mountains in central Namibia, the AfriCat Foundation's Rescue Cheetah Release Project is gathering pace. Rescue and Release Officer Dave Houghton and the team have worked round the clock preparing 18 cheetahs for release onto a 40,000 acre reserve. Every cheetah scheduled for release has had to be darted and vaccinated and so far the process has gone without a hitch. But today, the team has to get to grips with the release program's most challenging cat. Elusive five-year-old male, Cyclops. Cyclops truly is a wild cheetah. Rescued after being trapped by farmers at the age of four, he avoids human contact whenever possible. Once released, he should do well in the reserve. But there's one obvious problem. When he was rescued, Cyclops was suffering with glaucoma in one eye. It needs to be examined. And if his condition has deteriorated, he might have to undergo surgery to have the eye removed. Having cared for this enigmatic cat for 18 months, Dave has become quite attached. He's hoping Cyclops gets the all clear and won't have to endure the stresses of major surgery. He's kind of got a special place in our hearts because he's been kind of very elusive to us. Feeding time, it's the only time we see him. So we think he's going to do well and we hope that he does well and we can get him out there as soon as possible back where he belongs. Cyclops is such a wild cheetah that getting close enough to anesthetize him with a dart gun is impossible. The team has decided to set up a box trap, hoping to lure him in using a joint of meat. Once he's contained, it will be easy to dart him. It has two sliding doors, one each end, and it has a trip plate in the middle. So the mechanism holds the doors up and then when the animal stands on the trip plate, the doors drop. But Cyclops is extremely nervy and won't be easily tempted. The question is, will he take the bait? Six miles away at the other end of the reserve, Director of Park Research, AJ, has been tasked with tracking the first five cheetahs that were released earlier today. One, two, three. When four-year-old cheetah Coco and her gang of five entered the reserve, Director of Welfare, Carla Conradi, couldn't help feeling concerned about the challenges they would face in the days ahead. We've actually put them in a situation where it is potentially dangerous. Some of them will make it and sadly some of them won't. But they have to have this chance in the wild. After years in captivity, the five now have to fend for themselves. And AJ's concerned for their safety. He's hoping to get a glimpse of them before sunset. And he soon spots them in a clearing. Well, they're all relaxed and it seems like he's either cleaning himself or... No, he's chewing on something. He's got a kill. He's chewing. He's chewing on a steambok. A steambok is a tiny antelope, only the size of a small dog and barely enough to provide one cheetah with a full meal. But it's a step in the right direction. I have to call Carla. I mean, Carla on six. I've stumbled onto the boys and they've killed a steambok. Well, that's excellent news. If I can keep that up for the next few weeks, we'll be all right. But this is what makes it all worthwhile. This morning, I was very concerned and then unexpectedly, he come across this. In the wild, cheetahs are taught to hunt by their mothers. It can take months before they're able to bring down prey themselves. Orphaned as youngsters, these cheetahs were denied much of that training. It looks like their instincts are serving them well. Dave and Carla arrive, keen to witness the cheetah's proud moment. Just gave a quick look. I came in and saw, actually eating something. Got close and saw a steambok. They weren't even hungry. That's excellent. It's quite amazing. That's great. They seem to be pleased with themselves. Well, I'm really chuffed they chose a nice one with not too many sharp bits. And not too huge that they couldn't actually handle it. After so many years in captivity, Coco and the others are doing what comes naturally. For Dave and Carla, it makes all the hard work worthwhile. I'm actually stunned. Stunned that they have managers within the first 24 hours. I really didn't expect it. It's a wonderful surprise. We'll check on them tomorrow and hopefully, you know, we'll have five little fat round tummies and five little smiling faces to greet us in the morning. So hopefully this is, you know, signs of good things to come. Experiences like this remind Carla why she left everything behind to join Dave at the AfriCat Foundation. Before she dedicated her life to cheetahs, Carla had begun making a career for herself in the city. Life in the bush has changed her perspective as well as her image. When I lived in Cape Town, I did spend a lot of time dressing up for work and having my nails done and going to the hairdresser. But here, it's quite different. Here, there are no long nails because you'd probably break a finger if you had long nails. You can't really wear jewellery because it'll get stuck on a thorn bush and you'll rip your ear out. I was here before Carla. So I was here when Carla used to visit in her nail polish days. So I did see that side of Carla. Living in this situation does change you. A weekly trip to the manicurist is absolutely ridiculous when you're doing stuff like we do when your nails break every five minutes anyway. So it's basically back to short nails and you just have to put up with it. Even me, you know. A new day brings news on Cyclops, the cheetah with glaucoma in one eye. In the night, he took the bait. Dave and veterinary surgeon Dr Mark Jago move in. In the wild, cheetahs are naturally flighty animals that will run at the first sign of danger. Unable to escape, Cyclops will be incredibly stressed. Dave doesn't want to waste any time. So I'm just going to go quickly in there, dart him, get him down with less stress, doesn't crash around the bars too much, and just get out till he goes to sleep basically. And then we can check his eye because Mark, the vet, can have a look at his eye and we'll see basically what his future holds. Sorry boy, sorry. Okay, okay boy. Dave needs to get a clear shot into the muscle of Cyclops hind leg. The longer it takes, the more chance that Cyclops will injure himself on the bars. A hit. And Dave and Mark can retreat while the drug takes effect. A lot of crashing around, sometimes they can damage the face. I'm obviously very nervous, so I'm just going to try and get away as soon as possible so there's not too much of that. There are always risks with anaesthetic. Once Cyclops is down, he'll need to be transported to the clinic as quickly as possible. You're going to take him from me, Mark? Yep. But moving a fully grown cheetah isn't easy. An adult male can weigh nearly eight stone. Yes, ready, one, two, three. Cyclops' eyes are covered to protect them from the sun's glare. And once on the truck, cool, wet towels ensure he doesn't overheat. Once he's back at the clinic, he'll be examined. And if his condition has deteriorated, he'll face major surgery. At the Africat clinic, it's decision time for a five-year-old male cheetah named Cyclops. He's suffering with glaucoma in one eye, and he might have to undergo major surgery to have it removed. The decision rests with Dr Mark Jago. What we've got here is swelling of the eye. If you look at the normal eye, you can see it's a certain size. If you have a look and compare the two eyes, you can see this is a larger eye. You can actually feel it as well and feel there's a certain amount of increase in pressure. The eye is swollen. Healthy cheetahs rely on binocular vision, using both eyes to line up their prey accurately during a hunt. It's impressive that Cyclops has adapted to using just one eye. But Mark now needs to decide whether the other one will have to be removed. Thankfully, the prognosis is good. Obviously, it's not ideal, but there's no need to remove the eye. It's not causing him a problem. So rather leave it alone and then don't put him through anything else which is unnecessary. He's learned to hunt with one eye, and it's one of those natural things that happens. Cyclops has spent 18 months in captivity, but now he'll get a second chance at freedom. It's a massive relief for Dave. We've been waiting for this for a long time now, getting the radio collar on, getting him back out there where he belongs. Cyclops is taken to a shady area to recover from his ordeal. And after a stressful day, can now look forward to a second chance in the wild. As a new day dawns, seven-month-old cheetah cub Quatro is leaving the reserve. Quatro was brought in with a broken leg after being hit by a car. And Dave had no way of knowing whether he'd pull through. Hopefully it doesn't come to it, but it could well come to the fact that it's not savable and then it has to be euthanized. And as sad as it is, we have to accept that sort of thing. This morning, Quatro will have x-rays on his leg. It will be down to Dr Ulf Tubersingh to decide whether he can be saved. First, he'll have to anaesthetize him. The team initially thought Quatro's calm behavior could be the result of head trauma. But when he remains relaxed, even whilst being injected, they begin to suspect something else. It's illegal to hand rear cheetahs as pets in Namibia. But orphaned cubs are sometimes taken in. Ulf deals with big cats on a regular basis and knows the signs. One would really expect to be very, very anxious. I'm sure if I were to scratch that head for two minutes or 30 seconds longer, it would start purring and it would lie down. I mean, that isn't exactly a very anxious animal. All this really suggests that it is a hand-raised cheetah. If Quatro's leg is too severely fractured, it could be amputated. But he'd have no chance in the wild. Cheetahs rely on their speed and agility to bring down prey. If the leg can't be saved, the kindest thing would be to put him to sleep. The x-rays make for shocking viewing. There are multiple breaks along Quatro's leg. So here you can see this fracture quite clearly. Here's the other fracture. Worse still, on closer examination, Ulf discovers broken bone fragments within the leg joint. It looks like there's a piece that has been literally punched out. You can see there's black around here. It looks like there's a chunk that has been broken out. It probably is a traumatic injury, but it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. It's a very strange fracture. It's now more complicated. It's right up the top there by the elbow. And then with the cheetahs, the bone sticks out and their tendon is attached to the end of this one. So there's a hell of a lot of stress on that bone. So it's always wanting to pull it. So unless that's pinned and it's not going to hold it steady, then basically nothing is not going to work. Cuatro is taken through to surgery. It's going to be a complex procedure that will have to be done in two stages. What I'm right now doing is just to get a surgical exposure of the fracture site. That is the fracture. The fracture proper that you see. Just trying to get the fragments in position. Firstly, Ulf will tackle the clean breaks along the length of Cuatro's leg bone. Once this is complete, he'll be taken for x-rays. Cheetahs rely on their lightweight bone structure to reach the incredibly high speeds they need during the hunt. For the operation to be deemed a success, Cuatro's ability to run at speed mustn't be compromised. It's getting the right plates and screws together. That it's strong enough to hold. Not so big that it interferes with the animal in the long run. The team are still hoping that eventually Cuatro can be released into the wild. And so far, the signs are good. See, this looks perfect. There's the fracture line. That looks good. The screws could be a little bit shorter, but the bone is quite soft. You know, the shorter you make the screws, the bigger the chance that they'll rip out. Ulf now needs to tackle the second, much more complex part of the procedure. The fracture within the leg joint. Here is this big gap. I don't know if this is the ulna, because the one ulna fragment is going out like this. It needs to be shifted in. If I shift this in, it will come in again. OK, let's go for phase two. Cuatro's leg now needs to be pinned and wired to pull the broken bone fragments back into alignment. Part one went very well, although Ulf has got a few concerns about getting the ulna right. It's going to be a long and drawn out procedure, and there's still no way of knowing if it will work. The life of this young cheetah cub will be determined in the coming weeks.