Hand-rearing the brothers, teaching them the life skills cheetahs need to survive, and observing the cubs as they pass through key stages of their development, Simon’s efforts to rehabilitate the cheetahs and reintroduce them to the world of wild cheetahs is filled with delight but also sadness. Simon becomes more deeply attached to the orphans, making difficult, yet critical decisions that determine their fate. When tragedy strikes, Simon is overcome with emotion, but has to make clear decisions for the welfare of Toki.

To order a copy of The Cheetah Orphans, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for The Cheetah Orphans was originally posted November 2007.

The latest information we have on Toki comes from the Web site of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, dated November 24, 2008.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy would like to announce to Toki fans, that their favourite “celebrity” cheetah is doing well in his secure, 1,700 acre haven within the conservancy.

Predator expert, Stephen Saipan, regularly monitors Toki and reports that he continues to live a natural & peaceful life, hunting impala’s and Thompson’s gazelles, skillfully fending for himself. The only set back for Toki in the past couple of years was a minor operation on his ear, to remove a small swelling that appeared on its tip. The swelling was examined and tested and returned no threatening results. Toki has since fully recovered from the operation.

Efforts to find him a mate are still underway, with future plans of establishing a cheetah breeding programme on the conservancy.

We will continue to update our site with further information about Toki as it becomes available.

The big cats of Africa have always been favored subjects of wildlife filmmakers. But as little as 15 years ago, no one had captured the unforgettable image of a leopard in its ghostly nocturnal stalk. Viewers had never seen intimate portrayals of the sleek and elusive serval, or witnessed the nighttime romps of the beautiful black-eared caracal.

The team of Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett filled those gaps with a series of spectacular breakthrough films in the 1990s. Among the first to apply infrared light and night vision goggles to wildlife studies, they combined technology with intrepid determination and a strong dose of luck, illuminating the cats we hardly knew, and giving us fresh insights into those we only thought we knew, such as lions and cheetahs.

Join the team of Newman and Barrett as they pursue unique and amazing footage of Africa’s five most spectacular cats: cheetahs, leopards, servals, caracals, and lions in Chasing Big Cats. 

To order a copy of Chasing Big Cats, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for Chasing Big Cats was originally posted November 2004.

To make NATURE’s Chasing Big Cats, natural history filmmakers Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett spent years in Africa trailing some of the world’s rarest and most secretive predatory animals. Their painstaking labor, which has included tracking cats for days on end, has produced some of wildlife filmmaking’s most memorable footage. NATURE recently spoke with the pair from their home in the United Kingdom.

This is difficult work. How did you get involved in it?

Amanda Barrett: I’ve been doing it about 16 years. I started off as a secretary [to a filmmaker], then went on to become a researcher and then a producer. I’ve always been passionate about wildlife and environmental issues, and I wanted to show people the beauty of the amazing world around us. With knowledge comes respect, appreciation, and admiration. I hope people see that they are just one species among many. On the evolutionary scale we are just a twig on the tree, not the topmost branch. Lions are just trying to do what we do — raise babies and make their way in the world. Hopefully we can give them the space they need to do that.

Owen Newman: I got into it by accident, actually, in the late 1970s. I was doing still photography, and was helping out with a show on small mammals. [The filmmaker] gave me an ancient [movie] camera to try out. I think his exact words were to “p— off and go do some filming.” So I ended up making a film about some mice.

What’s drawn you to filming cats?

Owen Newman in the field.

Amanda: Well, they are very photogenic, and they do a lot of interesting things. And there is still a lot to be found out about them. That’s not to say we’re not interested in those poor old herbivores, it’s just the cats are so interesting.

Owen: I think everyone is interested in the big cats. The first filming I did was of cheetahs. I latched on to a female with about six cubs, and it was fascinating to watch. When I’d finished that, I ended up doing a film where I followed a cheetah with small cubs for about three months… just followed her around…

How much time do you spend in the field filming?

Amanda: We go out for six to eight months a year. You need time to find and get to know the animals.

What’s changed during the time you’ve been going to Africa to film wild cats?

Amanda: In Kenya, the increasing human population is very noticeable. Parks are becoming islands in a sea of people. In Tanzania it is less noticeable, because it is a bigger country. Many of the changes I see are not necessarily for the better. But what gives me hope is that more and more young people are aware of the issues and problems.

Owen: There are certainly a lot more photographers and tourists. There is a lot more pressure on animals now… On some occasions you just get so many cars following one animal that you just have to back out. It is bad for the animal. Not everyone behaves very well.

Do you have a favorite moment you’ve captured on film?

Amanda: My most favorite is a backlit cheetah running right at the camera. It shows the essence of the cheetah. When the shot starts, she’s not at full tilt. Then her ears go back and you can see complete determination to catch that impala. She’s bred to run… it is millions of years of evolution caught in a moment of perfection. That is what every natural history filmmaker is trying to get. That run is the best cheetah run anyone will ever get… if not, I’ll eat my hat.

Owen: That was quite good. We also filmed some male lions fighting… that was quite lucky. The most exciting stuff has been with small cats. I filmed a young male serval that upset a grant’s gazelle, and she charged him and threw him over her back. Filming servals leaping in the air to catch storks was wonderful too.

What is one of your most difficult or memorable assignments?

Owen: We did a lot of work with male cheetahs, and the only way to do that is to trail them and stay with them for 5, 6, 7 days at a time, all day and all night. One evening we were with some tourists, watching these 3 males sitting under a tree. The tourists left, but we had license to stay on and follow them. As it got dark the cheetahs got up and started moving, then they would stop to sleep, then move on again. It was a hell of a job to stay awake yourself. Overall, they moved 16 kilometers (about 10 miles). But when they finally went to sleep around dawn, they’d ended up just 20 meters (about 65 feet) from where they started! The tourists who came back after breakfast must have thought we’d been there all night, in the same place!

Amanda: Filming that caracal at night. Trying to find one is like finding a needle in the haystack. So finding that cat, which was an incredible performer, was like finding Marilyn Monroe… she was one in 10,000.

What’s the next challenge?

Amanda: We’re off to Brazil to try to film wild jaguars. It is the most difficult cat of all.

Owen: Yes, just coming to grips with a wild jaguar will be very difficult. It’s the hardest thing we’ve set off to do. We’ll be using remote cameras, which we’ve never used before.

Amanda: They live in very impenetrable habitats and melt away into the undergrowth — and the undergrowth is very, very thick. But you try, because filming a wild cat doing its own thing is the ultimate Holy Grail.

Owen: Some shots you imagine are going to be really difficult. And then you get there and it is actually quite easy. And sometimes it’s the simplest shot that turns out to be virtually impossible. You never know until you are doing it.

NATURE: Cheetahs in a Hot Spot
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/cheetahs/index.html
Discover how cheetahs are built for speed. Learn the art of stalking, cheetah-style. Then find out about efforts to protect these endangered animals.

NATURE: Intimate Enemies: Lions and Buffalo
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/enemies/index.html
Find out why the king of the beasts has to be patient when it comes to attacking buffalo.

NATURE: Leopards of Yala
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/leopards/index.html
Track leopards in the jungles of Sri Lanka.

Wild Cat Species of Africa
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/agarman/bco/spec_afr.htm
Learn more about African’s feline hunters.

Cat Watching in Africa
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/174africa.shtml
Spot big cats in Africa’s numerous parks and reserves.

Big Cats Links
http://bigcatslinks.ath.cx/index.php?json=y
Links to articles, research organizations, and foundations on big cats.

Born Free
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/bcat10.htm
Learn the natural history of big cats, the threats these animals face, and how to help with conservation efforts.

Filming Wild Cats in Africa
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/276feature1.shtml
Filmmakers Amanda Barrett and Owen Newman share some memories.

Wildlife-film.com
http://www.wildlife-film.com/
All about the wildlife film industry and how to get started as a filmmaker.

Small Wild Cat Species
http://www.messybeast.com/small-wildcats.htm
A guide to the smaller relatives of lions and tigers.

Books

Bosman, Paul. CATS OF AFRICA. Washington: Smithsonian Books, 1998.

Bauer, Erwin. THE LAST BIG CATS: AN UNTAMED SPIRIT. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 2003.

Kat, Peter. PRIDES: THE LIONS OF MOREMI. Washington: Smithsonian Books, 2000.

Miller, S. Douglas. CATS OF THE WORLD: BIOLOGY CONSERVATION, AND MANAGEMENT. Vienna, VA: National Wildlife Federation, 1986.

Sunquist, Fiona. WILD CATS OF THE WORLD. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

• Type: Mammal
• Family: Felidae
• Habitat: Areas with expanses of land, dense brush, and abundant prey, such as grasslands, semi-desert prairies, and mountainous terrain
• Location: Primarily Africa (where 90% live on commercial farms), mostly the sub-Saharan region, but range once extended into India; some are still found in parts of Iran.
• Diet: Carnivore
• Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 12 years
• Size: Length: 45-55 inches (115-135 cm); tail up to 33 inches (84 cm)
• Weight: 90-140 lbs (40-65 kg)