Dangerous Cheetah encounters

Dangerous Cheetah encounters


In March of this year I had an amazing weekend at a beautiful farm out side Johannesburg called The Ann Van Dyk Cheetah Centre. Link here --> Dewildt Cheetah's . They have just been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Trip Advisor. So worth a visit - especially as a family trip ... 
I was invited to view and photograph the Cheetah's in their enclosure with their owners... Anna and Roy. (2 Amazing people) Anna and Roy are helping Ann Van Dyk carry on her amazing work in conserving these endangered, beautifully dangerous, creatures.
To warm me up I started shooting the 1 year old cheetah's. These guys were playful and smallish. There are some images below of me with the little ones. There are no images of me with the big cheetahs as everyone else was busy holding the big cats back from using me as play thing. The first image in this blog is of Roy holding back a cheetah - locked in on me ready to pull me down (obviously - me the ever dedicated photographer couldn't leave without the perfect shot - hence the final shots in this blog are of my leg after one got hold of me .
The older ones were tame to a degree, but make no mistake these are wild animals and not house hold kitty cats, as I soon found out when something switched in them and I became pray … But only one photographer was injured slightly in the making of this blog but no cheetah's where harmed … Enjoy the images and when in town visit the Dewildt Cheetah Project
FYI - They offer a brilliant gap year program. You get to work with the cheetah's - programs run all year long - from one month to 1 year programs. If you are interest in this program please contact me for further information and details  




For more images go to cheetah images

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