Leopard and cheetah drive

Our main wildlife attraction, the Cheetah and Leopard Drive, takes place every afternoon, and you will have the opportunity to see, from the safety of one of our vehicles, at least one of each of our Leopards and Cheetahs at feeding time. Our big cats are free roaming, within large enclosures, but not self-sustaining, as there is not naturally enough game for them to survive on. Although there is a huge demand for these animals to be trained as 'pets', that is not our policy here at Düsternbrook - we believe in protecting the natural habitat of these wild animals so that they can roam and breed freely, safely, and comfortably, as they have done for thousands of years. There is lots of space, and from the vehicle you will have a great view for taking some amazing photographs of these beautiful creatures.

In our overnight price the standard tour is included. This tour is always in the afternoon at 14.30 in winter (Apr-Sep) or 15.30 in summer time (Sep-Apr).

Leopards

The leopard is the largest of spotted cats in Africa. Once distributed across southern Asia and Africa, the leopard's range of distribution has decreased radically over time because of a variety of factors, including human influence. The leopard, classed as a rare species, now chiefly occurs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Leopard conservation
The farm with its mountains is a very good leopard habitat. Leopards used to be hunted here as they killed a lot of domestic life stock. The leopard is by law a special protected animal. Internationally he is regarded as being endangered and he is on CITES appendix No.1. meaning no international trade with leopards is allowed.

With your help, your visit to Düsternbrook, the income generated protects the wild leopard as it allowed me to switch from life stock farming to game farming. The game he hunts is part of his natural food base and the losses accepted and tolerated.
The leopard population at our farmland is healthy.

Cheetahs

Cheetahs are rare wherever they occur. They normally flourish outside conservation areas as they are not subject to direct competition with lions and hyaenas.

The Cheetah is unique in its speed, while lacking climbing abilities of other cats. No other mammal is as fast as a cheetah, which has a top speed of 90 - 112 kph (60 - 70 mph) although the average speed during a chase is less than 64 kph (40 mph). The Cheetah has the ability to accelerate from 0 to 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph) in three seconds, faster than most supercars.

Cheetah conservation
Cheetahs used to be in a different area of the farm as the leopard and much bigger numbers than today. But we also had, as a cattle farmer, much more losses of livestock. Today the same applies as mentioned above with the leopard. We practical have no more life stock, but cheetah are still very seldom seen or noticed here and numbers have not come back yet in this area.