- This is my first interaction with a cheetah.
Hi buddy, this is either gonna go really well or really bad.
(deep purring)
(dynamic jungle music)
For the various non-predatory animals,
that call the South African savanna home,
survival is no walk in the park.
Roaming giants such as the elephant
depend on their massive size and intimidating presence
to keep out of the predators' sites,
while smaller hoof stock like the impala
depend on their speed and cunning agility
to escape the jaws and claws of doom.
Yet size and speed are no guarantee that you will survive,
as this wild place is a constant circle of life,
where every single day, there's a good chance,
that you or someone you know will be hunted.
Survival sounds
(roaring)
and likely is terrifying,
as hidden within the tall, golden grasses,
silent predators are constantly stalking within the shadows
and if you aren't careful,
you may find yourself in the wrong place
and ultimately at the wrong dinner table.
Today we are visiting the Kragga Kamma Game Park,
an easily accessible and secure stretch of wilderness
located in the Eastern Cape,
that is home to a variety of African icons,
but most notably the cheetah,
these beautiful cats, despite their calm demeanor
are considered to be perfect predators
and their lethal attack
comes with a combination of stealth and speed.
(deep purring)
Since childhood, I have adored cheetahs,
so much so, that I even dressed up as one for Halloween.
See those distinct eye stripes?
My field marks were on point.
As an adult, getting up close with one of these speedy cats
for the Brave Wilderness channel
has always been a top priority,
so today I'm going to be given the chance
to work alongside Terri, a cheetah conservationist
and with her help, I'm going to have
an incredibly special encounter with Monty.
- [Mark] Alright Coyote, are you ready?
- I don't know if you can ever be ready
to enter an enclosure with a cat.
Now I've palled around with a bobcat
and also you guys have certainly seen the ocelot episode,
but today's the first time we're getting to work
with an official big cat,
the smallest of the big cats, the cheetah
and I have loved cheetahs ever since I was a little kid
and this is the first time
I'm ever gonna get to interact with one,
so I'm a little nervous,
hopefully it will acclimate to me quickly
and we'll have a good interaction,
but the cameras are fired up and ready to go
and I see Terri signaling that it is time
to enter the cheetah enclosure,
you guys ready for this? - Let's do it.
- Here we go.
(deep purring)
Gosh, listen to that purring,
wow.
Look at you.
Full grown, right?
- He's fully grown. - Monty is full grown,
now can I approach Monty?
- You can approach him. - Okay.
- [Terri] Just come by and pet him.
- This is my first interaction with a cheetah.
Hi buddy, this is either gonna go really well or really bad.
Let's see, hi.
(deep purring)
How are you?
Whoa.
Gosh,
guys, can you hear that purring?
I'm sure the camera can pick it up.
Look at his whole throat is vibrating.
Alright, well, do you think that we can
bring Monty down here into the open
- Sure. - and see if he will
come up on that log for us?
- We could try. - Nervous, (laughs)
this is so cool.
- Come, boy. - Alright.
- Come on, teeker. - Wow.
- [Terri] Come on here.
- I'll tell you this much, you get that close to a cat,
once you enter through the fence
and you're on this side with it,
my heart's racing right now, it's very intimidating.
Keep in mind, like I said,
this is the smallest of the big cats
and still look how large this animal is,
a perfectly designed predator,
we'll get into more of that in a second,
but let's transition Monty over here out into the open.
We're inside of his enclosure right now,
this is his domain,
right now, Mario is about to make contact.
Look at this.
(deep purring)
(light melodic music)
- The real goal in this moment is just for Monty
to get acclimated to myself, to Mark, to Mario,
to realize there's cameras inside of his enclosure.
Here he comes, hi Monty.
The thing that's so cool about this cat
is the length of its legs, perfectly designed predator
and designed for speed, that's the first thing
I really wanna take a look at,
as we know, cheetahs are the fastest land predator,
look at the size of the paws, big paws,
look at those paws, look at that
and the claws don't fully retract,
now they use those claws like cleats
and that will actually help the cheetah
to gain traction as it springs into action
after anything that it's going to try to catch.
- [Mark] So is this at all intimidating to you, Coyote?
- Yeah, you know, it's tough to get completely comfortable
next to a cat of this size,
but as long as Monty is purring like that,
Terri tells me that he is content and feeling really good
and I saw Terri doing this,
scratching the sides of his head, oh, okay, maybe not yet.
Alright, Monty's heading in this direction
over into the shade, let's follow him.
(light melodic music)
- [Mark] So Coyote, what does the coat feel like?
- It is very dense, the fur up on top of the head is bristly
and on its haunches, it kind of feels
like the fur of a buffalo
and then it's much more sleek
running down the side of the animal,
you can see how streamlined this creature is,
obviously perfectly designed for speed,
(deep purring)
cheetah speed.
- Oh. - Oh, flick you with the tail.
- I got whacked with the tail there.
Monty, can I analyze your tail real quick?
Let's see what happens.
- Oh. - Oh, look at that.
- [Mark] Sure can, there you go.
- That is a long tail right there,
rather heavy too.
I like how Monty decides that once we try to get a shot,
he's gonna flop over on this side,
so he gives you, which is actually kinda cool,
we wanna look at some of the design of Monty's coat,
cheetahs are so iconic for their spots,
which allow them to perfectly camouflage
in all of the tall grasses,
so it's a mix of light and shadow that allows them to hide,
as they're stalking their prey.
Look at these little ears,
they have a great sense of hearing, great eyesight,
now, it's a diurnal species,
they primarily hunt during the day
and if you take a good look at Monty's eyes there,
look at how big they are, they have incredible vision,
that allows them to see prey from extensive distances
and then they can slowly stalk in
and prepare to ambush and attack.
- [Mark] So Coyote, is a cheetah similar to a lion,
where it's in a pride or is it like a tiger,
where it's a solo animal?
- Oh, that's a great question,
what most people don't realize is that cheetahs,
females specifically are mostly solitary,
unless they have cubs, but when it comes to males,
a group of cheetahs is called a coalition,
so oftentimes you'll see two or three brothers
hanging out together, but the females, primarily solitary,
unless it's during breeding season or if they have cubs.
It is almost time for lunch
and what's really cool is that Terri's gonna allow us
to stay inside the enclosure, while Monty has his lunch,
you guys wanna get some cool shots of that?
- [Mark] Do we get lunch after?
- If you like horse meat,
then yes, you can also have some lunch.
- [Mark] I was thinking like a sandwich.
- Yeah, a sandwich is probably a better idea, huh?
- [Mark] Alright, let's go watch Monty.
- Let's feed Monty.
Out of all the animals that we have featured
on this channel eating,
I think this is probably gonna be the largest predator,
this, this is the real deal right here.
That is awesome
and just like all big cats, they chew from the side,
they actually use their large canine teeth
to inflict the kill, it's almost like scissors,
the way that they have to cut the meat apart into chunks,
then swallow it down whole.
Whoa,
oh, the sound of those jaws
just crushing through that meat's incredible.
- [Mark] So you could never do this with a wild cat?
- No, you would never get this close
to a cheetah in the wild regardless,
but you know, Monty is so used to being around humans,
it's okay for me to be this close to him, while he's eating
and when cheetahs are out in the wild and they get a kill,
they will oftentimes eat as much as they can,
they have a lot of competition out there in the grasslands,
hyenas will come in and steal away their food,
lions will chase them off the kill,
so once you get something to eat,
you take advantage of that moment
and chomp down as much as you can.
- [Mark] And after this,
Monty's probably gonna what, take a nap?
- Take a nap and then a meaty poop, I would guess.
Alright buddy, yeah, you're such a good cat.
He seems to be comfortable with me at this point.
- [Mark] God, you're really close to each other. (laughs)
- That's really close to a cheetah right there,
real close to the kill zone too.
(deep purring)
I think Monty is pretty comfortable with us
though at this point.
Well, that's pretty cool, getting face to face
with the speediest cat here in South Africa,
the one and only cheetah.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave,
stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
(light orchestral music)
The Kragga Kamma Game Park is home
to a wonderful cheetah conservation program
and it's animal ambassadors like Monty,
that are helping to educate the public about these cats
and the importance of preserving their futures.
When I look back on my time spent working alongside Monty,
it's hard to describe in words
what it feels like to make contact with a cheetah,
here is this animal, that I loved as a kid
and I'm now face to face with as an adult,
it was truly a dream come full circle,
that took me over 30 years to accomplish
and in those final moments, as I said my goodbyes to Monty,
I felt my inner child smile,
knowing that cheetahs are just as perfect in real life
as they always had been in my dreams.
If you love cheetahs as much as I do,
then you are going to love
the new limited edition Chill Cheetah T-shirt,
that just arrived in the Brave Wilderness store,
speed over as fast as you can to check out this
and all the other new products we just released.
Hey Coyote Pack, I have some exciting news.
I am proud to announce that the crew and I
are headed back on tour with Brave Wilderness Live,
our next shows take place in the Midwest,
tickets can be purchased at the Brave Wilderness website
and these shows are certain to sell out,
so make sure that you reserve your seats today
and don't forget, subscribe, so you can join me and the crew
on our next big adventure.
(cheering audience)
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
- [Audience] Stay wild!
(light jungle music)