In 1994, they were replaced with two males: Mpho and Mphonyane, the latter meaning "small gift."
It was decided not to have females join them, says Oosthuizen, because this could set them fighting. And their purpose was not to breed but to keep the warthogs and impala in check.
Mphonyane drowned some years later when he fell into an air-base swimming pool, possibly while chasing after a warthog. He was replaced with a new young cheetah male called Kleintjie (the Afrikaans word for "small one").
Mpho went on to reach the ripe old age of 14 years, considered extraordinary for a cheetah. He was about to be retired earlier this year to the cheetah breeding facility at the nearby Kapama private game reserve to spend his last days in protective comfort when he went missing.
Air Force personnel were concerned. They had a few days earlier noticed that he had separated from his younger hunting partner. They also once saw him driven off his warthog kill by baboons, a sure sign that he was weakening.
His radio collar was out of order, and by the time he was found he was so weak that local veterinarian Peter Rogers considered it better to put him down. He had baboon-bite marks, but the main cause of his weak condition proved to be kidney failure.
Rogers says cheetahs' high-protein diet tend eventually to cause this, though in the wilds they normally do not live long enough for it to become a problem. From about eight years they start weakening and often starve, or get killed by bigger predators, like lion.
Meanwhile the job of keeping the runways safe has to carry on. It means the remaining cheetah, Kleintjie, has to be joined by some new colleagues to do the job.
In early August, two young males were brought from a breeding station and placed in an enclosure next to another in which Kleintjie has been put. Major Oosthuizen says the idea is to allow a bonding process to develop before putting them together, and then setting them free to start their air-base patrol.
Leon Marshall is an environmental journalist who contributes regularly to National Geographic News. See links at the bottom of this page to more of his stories.
Nationalgeographic.com Resources on Big Cats
News Stories:
Lions Vs. Farmers: Peace Possible?
Has Rare Lion of Africa's Cape Eluded Extinction?
Female Lions Are Democratic in Breeding, Study Finds
Man-Eating Lions Not Aberrant, Experts Say
Filmmakers Use High-Tech Gear to Stalk Lions
Cougar Reports on the Rise in Eastern U.S.
Rare Leopard Behavior Documented on Film
Killer Cat Hunted Human Ancestors
Uday Hussein's Lions May Be Freed in African Wilds
Baghdad Zoo Animals to Get Help From U.S. Zoos
Conditions Improving at Kabul Zoo
Big Cats Kept as Pets Across U.S., Despite Risk
Wild Tiger Populations Stabilizing, Groups Say
Elusive Snow Leopard Seen in Rare Photos
National Geographic Magazine Interactive Features (Galleries, video, audio, print excerpts)
Kenya's Legendary Maneless Lions Shed Their Mystery
Tracking the Leopard
Phantom of the Night: Jaguars, Latin America's Supreme Predators
Asia's Last Lions
In Search of the Clouded Leopard
Preying on Giants: Elephants and Lions
Nationalgeographic.com Interactive features
Creature Feature: Tigers
Tiger Time
Cyber Tiger
Stories by South African Journalist Leon Marshall:
Africa's Bushmen May Get Rich From Diet-Drug Secret
Bushmen Driven From Ancestral Lands in Botswana
In Africa, Hunters Pay to Tranquilize Game for Research
Tiny Bugs Enlisted to Fight Invading Water Hyacinths
Cross-Border Park Is Africa's Largest Wildlife Refuge
Gamblers Fuel Trade in "Lucky" Vulture Heads in Africa
Uday Hussein's Lions May Be Freed in African Wilds
Poaching, Smuggling Threaten Abalone Colonies in South Africa
South Africa Rethinks Use of Shark Nets
South Africa Sardine Migration Draws Crowds
"Killer Bee" Touted as Economic Lifesaver in S. Africa
South Africa Takes Urgent Steps to Avert Fishery Collapse
Fire Sparks Conservation Movement in South Africa
Africa's New Safari Trend Is for the Birds
South Africa Grooms for Sequel to 1992 Earth Summit in Rio
Related stories:
Falconry Used to Secure North American Airports
Dolphins Deployed as Undersea Agents in Iraq
Sharks Help Scientists Study Pacific Nuclear Test Site
Bear Dogs on Patrol for Problem Grizzlies
U.S. Beagle Brigade is First Defense Against Alien Species
Dogs Called Up in War on Terrorism
Related Sites:
National Geographic Guide to Animals & Nature
Air Force Base Hoedspruit
Hoedspruit Research and Breeding Centre for Endangered Species
Hoedspruit Endangered Species Foundation
Hoedspruit Cheetah in 1993
Cheetah Conservation Fund
