Hard Truths of Conservation (2022) s01e05 Episode Script

1
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Cheetahs
have vanished
from approximately 90% of their
historic range in Africa,
and are extinct in Asia,
except for a single
isolated population
of perhaps 50 individuals
in central Iran.
What does the future
hold for the species?
- [Narrator] Hunting has
become a controversial practice
in modern times.
My name is Dan Cabela.
I'm traveling the world
to explore the true impact
that hunting is having
on our remaining
wild landscapes
This practice goes back as far a
as human history
can remember. But does it have
have a place in modern
conservation?
(upbeat music)
(commentator on
radio in background)
- High society western women
loved cat skins in the 1900s
and cheetahs were
pursued for their pelts.
They were rarer than leopards
and therefore fetched
a higher price tag.
This trade took a huge
toll on their numbers.
Cheetah skins are
still a status symbol.
(hand pounding)
A number of tribes across
Africa still use catkins
in various rights of passage.
(tribal singing)
DNA studies of those skins
indicate that they
have been traded
from thousands of miles around.
(instrumental music)
This demand still
enables an illicit trade
in leopard and cheetah
skins across Africa today,
putting further pressure
on declining populations.
There are estimated to be
only 7100 cheetahs left
in the wild.
Cheetahs are listed
as "Vulnerable"
by the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature.
And the vast majority of
their remaining population
occurs in South Africa.
These wide ranging cats
need a lot of space to roam.
Space has become an
increasingly scarce resource,
especially for wildlife.
(siren blares)
Cheetahs are not a
huntable species in Africa,
but their home range
overlaps with many areas
where hunting is the
allocated land use.
In the case where
these areas provide
well-functioning ecosystems
with abundant prey,
reintroduction
efforts have served
to dramatically
expand their range
and populations across
Africa once more.
(engine roars)
I'm traveling back
to the continent
to participate in an ambitious
relocation of our own.
(electronic beep)
The reintroduction
of an apex predator
is something our family
has become familiar with
through the lions
that were reintroduced
in the Zambezi Delta
ecosystem a few years back.
(birds whistling)
- In 2018, when we
brought the lions in,
we didn't have any idea
whether it would be a success
or whether it wouldn't be.
We've gotten out
three times more lions
than we had when
we brought them in.
- However, cheetahs are
a more sensitive species
and a lot of
research was required
to determine when they
were last in the area.
- Before we can proceed
with any reintroduction,
the ethical thing to do
is to prove that cheetah
occurred here historically.
I started sifting
through literature
on English hunters that
moved through this area
in the late 1800s
and early 1900s.
And there was a book written
called 'Wild Game
Hunting on the Zambezi'
written by a chap
called Maugham.
Goodness gracious, there it was.
You know, a cheetah, page 178.
- [Male Voiceover] Cheetahs or
Hunting Leopards are
not very numerous
in the Zambezi valley
occurring most plentifully where
reedbuck and other small
antelopes are common.
I have also seen them
in Mulanje district
of Portuguese East Africa.
- [Vincent] So then I
thought, okay, we've got this
but we just have to make sure
that the area that
he's referencing
is in Mira Maya.
And I went onto Google maps
and I typed that name in,
and I couldn't believe it.
It's practically where
the Zambezi river
goes into the sea.
I mean, it's right at
the mouth of the Delta.
(energetic music)
That was our historical record.
- [Narrator] The records
confirmed that this area was
(music drowns out speaker)
We studied the history
and determined the risks
were worth the effort
to try to restore these
magnificent creatures
to the landscape.
With the evidence
required to back us up,
we undertook the largest
cheetah reintroduction
ever attempted in history.
- [Vincent] So we had to go
and collect these animals
from conservation landscapes
across Southern Africa.
(intense music)
- [Narrator] Our objective is
to capture wild individuals
that can become
the seed population
that brings the species
back to the Zambezi Delta
after almost 100 years.
(men chatting)
(suspenseful music)
- [Vincent] In Southern Africa,
we worked with the same
cheetah subspecies.
So we can move
Cheetah pretty much
anywhere between this
geographical region
without breaking
the genetic rules.
- Ah, thanks, Kevin.
- [Vincent] We decided
on holding them
at a central quarantine boma
manned by an experienced
wildlife veterinarian
called Dr. Mike Toft.
- [David] Over the
course of a week
all of the cheetahs
were safely brought
to a central quarantine facility
before they could
begin their journey
to Mozambique.
We have captured ten suitable
wild
individuals from across
southern Africa
that are to become
the seed population
that will restore them to the
Zambezi delta once more.
They're being held
in a quarantine facility.
For Boma before they begin their
to Mozambique.
(music intensifies)
- The cheetah arrived
in individual batches
so we put them into
individual bomas
Four, two, three and a one.
- Off we go.
We're are off to
the cheetah again
because reintroductions
need fine scale monitoring.
We're gonna want to
identify the cheetah.
At the moment, I'm doing
my best to build up
a really good identity kit
based on the unique
spot patterns.
(relaxing music)
- [Mary] Who would've
thought in my lifetime
I would be moving lions
and cheetahs to save them.
I never thought that.
In fact, I never
thought I'd ever be
in Africa in my entire life.
Here I am.
- [David] For me personally,
the cheetah initiative is just
another way of giving back
and trying to recreate
the way that it once was.
- Introductions are
inherently risky affairs.
And as a result, we lose
about 15% of the cheetah
that we relocate
between protected areas.
For this particular
reintroduction,
we looked no further
than Dr. Peter Caldwell.
Of the 6,000 cheetahs
that he's immobilized
and relocated,
he's lost only one.
(faintly speaks)
- I've just loaded my darts.
I'm gonna do
one solitary female,
and then three Pelanesberg ones.
- [Narrator] With
all 10 cheetahs,
we begin the last
step of the process,
preparing them for their
journey to Mozambique.
- Put him in the middle
there, and then
- [Narrator] The team moves
as silently and
quickly as possible
to minimize the
stress on the cats.
And the opportunity
is used to gather
as much data as possible
- 68.0
- We've collected blood,
we've collected hair for DNA.
And then we've micro-chipped.
The microchip we put under the
skin at the base of the tail
and then I injected them
with some antibiotics
which prevents an
infection at the dart site,
and some vitamins.
And we're re-hydrating them with
Ringer's lactaid
drip IV and subcut.
And we are fitting
GPS and VHF collar.
- We've got the
first four loaded.
They're now in the crates,
we've got six more to go.
There's a deep
love for wildlife.
And it's always
been in our family.
- We're working a little
bit against time and light.
So we've got the ninth,
second to last one.
And they're a
little bit skittish.
We're just waiting
for the last one
maybe to come to the carcass.
- We're about to cross
the first finish line.
So we're very excited
and it's been an excellent
day for Cheetah conservation.
(upbeat music)
(foreign language)
(insects chirping)
(speaker continues
in foreign language)
- It's been a very productive
first afternoon here.
We now have our cheetahs loaded.
We've micro chipped them,
measured them.
They're in their crates.
We're loading them on
the planes this morning.
It's gonna be a big
day for the cheetahs
and a big day for all of us.
I can't wait till we
get through customs
and into Mozambique.
It's great the family's
here to see all this.
- What an exciting day, eh?
- It's either really
good or really bad
cause it's really quiet.
(both laughing)
(airplane engine sounds)
- [Narrator] After
an eventful morning,
the cats begin the final
leap of their journey.
(electronic beep)
(stamp bangs)
- [Narrator] The research team
(music intensifies)
(birds chirping)
- So we're at the final stages
It's been a process.
We spent the last three
days getting here.
It's a truth moment for sure.
We're about to let them out
and this thing's becoming
a reality quickly.
Cheetahs were once hunted
to nearly extinction.
And this is a vast hunting area.
It's because of hunting
in this vast ecosystem
we've been allowed to
bring in the cheetahs.
They're not gonna be hunt proof.
They'll never be hunt proof.
But, because of hunting
we've got 2 million acres
where cheetahs can
thrive and exist.
Our foundation has decided
to protect the ecosystem
by protecting vast landscapes
from top to bottom.
Everything benefits.
- Whoo
- Whoo
- What do you think Mary?
- I love it.
- They're beautiful aren't they?
- Oh, they are.
- I turned and
looked at my mother
and what I saw in her face
that really made it for me.
You know, there's a lot of parts
that make it for
me in this deal.
But, for her to be happy
is probably the most.
- [Narrator] The cheetahs are
kept in a holding facility
for three weeks before
they're released.
- You want to give the cheetahs
some time to acclimatize.
You also want the
cheetahs to recover
and get to know each other
in their new habitat.
- [Narrator] The final step
will be to release them
in their new home.
We've successfully
relocated 10 cheetahs
to the Zambezi Delta ecosystem.
However, they need
time to acclimatize
- Unbelievable.
- If you can keep 2
million acres in tact,
it's not just about
cheetahs and lions.
It's about everything that
inhabits that 2 million acres.
(upbeat music)
(birds chirping)
(helicopter sounds)
- When we fly over this
Delta with all its abundance,
it's not hard to imagine
a pair of cheetahs sitting out
on the side of a termite mound
looking at all of
the wild marvels.
- But there haven't been
cheetah there for probably
100 years or more.
It's taken an enormous
amount of work
to restore this landscape
to what it is today.
A better part of 25
years of anti-poaching.
We needed to totally
involve our local community.
They needed to feel that
they were a part of the
process of this whole operation.
And without one
complimenting the other,
we wouldn't be able to
achieve what we have today.
Now that we have the
cheetahs in the boma,
the plan is to release
them within about a month.
- [Narrator] It's
an emotional month
to feed them for the last time.
(music intensifies)
- So different than life.
- Another beautiful path and
who wants them go extinct,
not me.
- So after the boma period,
the next step is a
really exciting one,
and that's to release them
out into this ecosystem.
Exciting, but a
little nerve-wracking.
- Before you
release the animals,
it's important to know that
the animals are relaxed.
- We'll open up the gates
and we'll drag a
carcass out there
so that they follow
you out of the gate.
- It's really important to
understand these introductions
and get really good at them.
- Introducing cheetah
into Mari Maya
is increasing the size
of our meta population
by 30% in one relocation.
- There's not a lot of places
left with 2 million acres.
And when you look
at their commitment
to wildlife conservation
and understand that you don't
have to agree with them,
but having a hunting concession
protects such a vast space.
Hunting was once the cause
of a species decline.
It has come full circle.
It is hunting that has
created viable ecosystems
for them to repopulate.
Knowing that they're out there
makes me really proud
of the difference
that hunters can make.
(choral music)