Day Two - Tuesday, October 29, 1996

Seen some interesting things worth mentioning so far here. Went to the Pretoria Zoo yesterday and saw common U.S. gray squirrels in an exhibit enclosure with people looking at them and pointing!

Things went well at De Wildt Cheetah Centre today. The Director finally officially agreed to sell us a cheetah. That is a huge accomplishment in itself that I am very excited about and proud of. They are (and should be) extremely selective. I sent the original proposal request to them in May, so it took five months of work and traveling here to finalize this. She even asked me if we would be interested in representing De Wildt in the U.S. That is an extremely exciting concept. They have done so well with cheetah breeding that they are now focusing on other indigenous endangered species. Red and blue duikers (see photo) are the world's smallest antelope, complete with horns and hooves, but only the size of a rabbit. They have many vultures (including a rare Egyptian vulture) and a "vulture restaurant." This is a protected place that carcasses are put out for endangered wild vultures to feed. They also have nyala, sika deer, impala, brown hyena, wild dogs, meerkats, owls, serval, caracal, and more. They are going to be adding programs for black-footed cats, African wildcats, and riverine rabbits. I am going back on Friday to do some more there.

I must get some sleep. It's 1:30am here and I must get up at 5am for the long drive to Madikwe Game Reserve today.