THE CHEETAH DIARIES, SEASON 4
vs
EPISODE 1
TIMECODE
VISUALS
AUDIO
00:00:00:00
Timelapse
Previously on the Cheetah Diaries...
00:00:07:06
Wide / Cheetah walking
Cheetah Outreach is dedicated to raising
across sand dune
awareness about the plight of the cheetah. Part
of their campaign for its survival involves raising
ambassador cats to inform the public about the
problems the cheetah faces.
00:00:23:15
Medium / Woman driving
Cub Handler, Emily travelled to The Anne Van
Landrover
Dyke Cheetah Centre and collected four new
cubs destined to become cheetah
ambassadors.
00:00:32:04
Exterior, Wide / Cubhouse
Back at the training facility at Eikendal, Emily
has been putting her everything into training
these boys and girls, but do they have what it
takes to make the grade ?
00:00:45:01
Wide/ Emily in the garden
Emily: These cats are going to be ambassadors
with the cubs
for their species and working with public,
spreading the message about cheetah
conservation, so we want the human bond to be
really strong and we want them to have no
problem meeting the public and be really
comfortable and confident doing that.
00:01:04:03
Cloud Timelapse
Anatolian breeding dogs have been used
successfully as a non-lethal way to protect
livestock from predators on South African Farms
00:01:13:11
Traveling / Farm view
Peter: The biggest challenge is to keep a
through car window
sustainable environment where the wild
predators like cheetah and leopard can stay in
the environment. Fortunately these Anatolian
dogs are helping.
00:01:25:12
Travelling / Farm view
Cheetah Outreach has been successfully
1
through car windscreen
breeding and placing these Anatolians on farms
where wild cheetahs occur in a bid to conserve
the species.
00:01:34:14
Wide / 2 Anatolians, One
Now two of the female breeding dogs Melda and
runs towards camera
Angel are retiring. Unless Cheetah Outreach
can find new breeding females to replace them,
the Anatolian Breeding Dog program could
come to stand still.
00:01:50:00
Medium / Annie Talking to
Annie: Having gone for situation of really
Camera
struggling to find farmers who would accept the
dogs, we now have waiting list. We need some
puppies really desperately.
00:02:00:17
Aerial Shot / Stellenbosch
Cheetah Outreach has called Spier Wine Farm
Winelands
home for 15 years, but everything is about to
change. They have to move.
00:02:08: 00
Jib Shot / Cheetah Outreach Annie: Recollect all the years we have been
Entrance
here. The early beginnings, all the cubs we have
raised here, all the dogs we have bred here. It is
the end of an era, isn't it?
00:02:18:13
00:02:26:04
Pull Focus / Annie and Team Luckily founder Annie has secured new
walking a cheetah at
premises at Paardevlei Wine Estate. It is a
Paardevlei
perfect opportunity for new beginning.
Medium / Liesl talking to
Liesl: I am really getting excited, I just absolutely
camera
cannot wait. I just want the next few months to
be over and be here and get settled and carry
on.
00:02:34:15
Opening Sequence
00:03:04:21
Raising Hope
00:03:12:22
Med / Emily sitting holding a
Cheetah cub trainer Emily is rearing girl cubs
cheetah cub
Veila and Weiy and boys Uist and Xhosa with
lots of love and dedication
00:03:20:00
00:03:22:19
Med Wide / Emily let's cubs
Emily: Come Babies! Come, come, come,
out of the cub room
come, come, come, come!
Med Wide / Emily let's cubs
Emily: These cats are going to be ambassadors
out of the cub room
for their species and working with the public,
2
spreading the message about cheetah
conservation, so we want the human bond to be
really strong and have no problem meeting the
public.
00:03:37:18
Med / Two children wearing
Today Emily will have her first opportunity to see
hats
if the cubs have what it takes. Local children,
are coming to visit. If the cubs have a future as
ambassadors, they will need to be focused and
calm during the encounter.
00:03:51:17
Wide / Emily walking towards Emily: Morning Guys!
gate where two children are
Children: Morning
waiting
Emily: How are you doing today?
Children: Fine.
Emily: Are you looking forward to meeting some
cheetah cubs?
00:04:00:24
Wide / Cheetah Cub looking
Emily: Okay Guys. I'll just go through a few of
through the fence
the rules with you before we go in with the cubs.
Obviously they are wild animals so we need to
pay particular attention to a few of their
behaviours. They are allowed to come up to you
and they can come onto your lap, that is fine,
but they are not allowed to climb up onto your
chest or jump into your face. If they come up far
from very quickly and you think they might up,
just put your hands up like this, so that they
cannot get to your face.
00:04:27:08
Wide / Three cheetah cubs
Emily: We will just go in two at a time, so that
looking through the fence
the cheetah do not come out while we try to get
in.
00:04:33:20
CU / Children entering the
The kids are coming, but are the cubs ready?
garden through the gate
00:04:41:03
CU / Cub sniffing camera
Emily: So this year we have four cheetah cubs
with us. We have got two girls and two boys and
they come from two different litters. This is Vaila
so she is one of the girls and they are all now
fourteen weeks old. They all have different facial
3
markings and they all have slightly different
shape of their face. So, it does take a little bit of
time to get to know them.
00:05:05:14
Med / Cubs running
Emily: You can see that they hunt during the
day, by the markings on their face. Do you know
what these black marks are called down their
face are called? No? They call them tear marks,
because it is as if a tear has rolled down, it is in
that shape, isn't it, where a tear would go round
your cheeks there. And what they are used for
they think, is that they use them as if they were
sunglasses. So because the cheetahs hunt
during the day they are always going to be
looking out to see in the bright sunshine and
there is lots of glare coming from the sun. So
the black markings adsorbs that sunshine and
acts like sunglasses, so they can see better
without the glare.
00:05:43:12
CU / Two children laughing
The cubs may be comfortable for now, but how
will they react when the kids come a little closer
00:05:51:09
The Guardians
00:05:52:23
Travelling Shot / Farm view
Cheetah Outreach are working with South
through Car window
African farmers to keep the wild cheetah
roaming free. One of those farmers is Peter.
00:05:59:16
Med / Peter driving car
Peter: I have got about 8000 hectares of cattle
farm, goat farm and game farm, so we have got
all in one. The biggest challenge is to, to keep a
sustainable environment where the wild
predators like cheetah and leopard can stay in
their environment. Fortunately with the Cheetah
Outreach program these Anatolian dogs are
helping to keep a balance and sustainable
environment for everything. So we are not
interfering too much with the wild cheetah and
leopards.
00:06:32:05
Cloud Timelapse
The Anatolian Guard Dog program gives
farmers an alternative to shooting or trapping
4
predators which attack their livestock. Annie and
Cyril are visiting Peter and his dog Harley.
00:06:43:19
Wide / Goats in a kraal
Peter: Come let me show you where is Harley
and his goats. Hello Harley!
Annie: Oh, your goats are looking good.
00:06:43:09
Med Wide / Gate to goat
Peter: Hello Harley! Eh, Boy!
kraal
Annie: Look at your goats, they are looking
fabulous.
00:06:56:08
Med / Peter opens gate to
Peter: Hello my boy. Hello. Hello my boy. Look,
goat kraal and greets Harley
look at him.
Annie: I can't believe the size of this dog Cyril.
Peter: Hello Harley:
Annie: Well!
Cyril: He is well matured, well grown.
Peter: Very good dog. Different personality.
Very good dog.
Annie: So this is one of Wardance's sons?
Peter: Ja
Cyril: One of Wardance's sons. And you can see
he is still in perfect working condition.
Annie: I can see that.
Cyril: Here you can see the ribs.
Annie: I can see that.
Cyril: So ja, he is in good knick.
Annie: He is in good knick.
00:07:35:12
Wide goats feeding
Dogs like Harley are protecting the livelihoods of
farmers like Peter as stock loss becomes a thing
of the past.
00:07:43:07
Wide Harley in the field
Peter: Fortunately we have got the dog. Harley
is doing an excellent job and the sponsors are
very kind to help us with these dogs. And we are
very grateful to that.
00:07:54:22
Med / Cyril talking to camera Cyril: We have got 76 working dogs on farms all
across the free ranging cheetah areas in South
Africa. And we are in the fortunate position that
no farmer that we have placed a dog with has
5
ever returned his dog after the first year.
00:08:09:18
Med / Annie and Peter
Annie: This in the end is going to make the
talking
difference for the cheetahs. This will actually in
the long run make the difference.
Peter: Ja.
00:08:18:03
Wide / Scenic sunset
The dogs are a success, more pups are in
demand now. Annie must get the breeding
program back on track.
00:08:31:11
Feuding Foxes
00:08:34:16
Aerial / Cheetah Outreach
Back at Cheetah Outreach handler Nikki is
Camps
about to feed her favourite family, the bat-eared
foxes.
00:08:40:21
Med / Foxes at the fence line Nikki: At first when they were small pups at
Eikendal they did not want to eat. So it has been
such a change for them coming down here and
growing up. They are just food crazy.
00:08:51:14
Previously
Things have not been easy for the fox family.
Timelapse clouds over hill
New parents Brad and Janet had to be
separated from their cubs just hours after giving
birth.
00:09:01:18
00:09:15:21
Med / Janet looking into
Maria: A couple of hours ago a volunteer found
burrow
the bat-eared fox mum eating one of the pups.
CU / Bat-eared fox up on
The remaining hand reared pups Foxtrot,
blue blanket
Batman and Foxtail grew into feisty teenagers.
But when the family was finally reunited the fur
started to fly. And the fox family has been
feuding ever since.
00:09:38:20
Med Wide / Nikki watching
Nikki: They are really excited. They get really
the foxes at the fence
crazy at mealtimes as you can see, jumping up
at the fence.
00:09:44:03
00:09:53:17
CU / Bat-eared fox pups at
The pups still terrorize their parents. At
fence
mealtimes Nikki gets caught in the cross-fire.
CU / Bat-eared fox pups at
As a last resort gadget expert Mike has built a
fence
custom made feeding box. Can the new fox box
help keep the peace.
00:10:06:18
The Big Move
6
00:10:08:02
00:10:13:10
Med Wide / Annie walking a
Founder Annie Beckhelling started Cheetah
cheetah
Outreach with one cheetah and a dream.
CU / Cheetah cubs feeding
Annie: The main reason for being here is to
on kill
spread the story of the cheetah. People will not
have any passion about an animal if they do not
understand and know it.
00:10:27:09
Jib Shot / Cheetah Outreach Soon Cheetah Outreach will move from Spier
Wine Farm to a new facility at Paardevlei. It’s
entrance
going to be pretty stressful.
00:10:35:09
Med / Pretty talking to
Pretty: The move is quite exciting, but at the
camera with cubs in
same time it is a little bit stressing. It will take
background
time for them to adapt everything in there. But
then it is better than here, because there is
noise of cars and everything. There it will be
quiet, they will have bigger space. So for me it is
quite exciting.
00:10:53:08
Wide / Cheetah on a platform For the first time, Dawn and Liesl will take two
cheetah ambassadors to experience their new
home.
00:10:59:20
Med / Dawn walking and
Dawn: So we are going off to our new facility
talking to camera
site today. Nothing has been built, but we are
taking Joseph and Chobe for an advertising
shoot, so that we can start getting it out there
where the new site will be.
00:11:14:03
Med / Dawn driving
Dawn: Well I think the general feeling at the
moment is panic. We are all realising it is two
months away. You know, two months is not a
long time to build the size facility that we need to
build.
00:11:26:19
00:11:36:04
CU / Car turning onto
Dawn: It is luckily a very short road from here to
driveway
where the new facility is going to be.
Wide / House
Dawn may be apprehensive about the move,
but what will the cheetahs make of it?
00:11:44:18
CU / car parking
Dawn: Hey Joe, Joe. Yes! Look, it is your new
home my love.
7
00:11:49:17
Med / Dawn talking to
Dawn: We are going to use Chobe first. Joe is
camera
more likely to settle in the back of the car and
wait his turn. Um, and Chobe might just not like
the wait, might be a bit impatient. So we will see
how Chobe does. If we are not getting what we
want from Chobe we will move him back to the
vehicle and we will try with Joe.
00:12:09:15
Vaila, Wiay, Uist and Xhosa
00:12:15:20
CU / Colourful lure
Little Boy: What do they eat?
Emily: They eat a mixture of things. They have
usually meat on the bone. So we have chicken
or turkey.
Mom: You were right!
00:12:26:00
Wide / Emily running with the Emily: But we also try them with different meats
lure
so they have a variety of different flavours, so
sometimes they will have beef or springbok.
00:12:39:19
Med / Cub sniffing lure
Before Emily takes the children any closer she
needs to make sure the cubs are relaxed, they
have never met young children before, and it is
difficult to predict how they will react.
00:12:54:07
Med Wide / Emily kneeling
Emily: Well we can try if we go very quietly, two
with the kids and their
by two. There is two that are lying down over
parents
here. We can see if we can stroke them. But we
will have to move very slowly and quietly.
00:13:08:07
CU / Cub running towards
Emily: This is Uist. Oh no, it is not it is Wiay and
the camera
Vaila. You want to stroke her? Quietly, let us
see if we can stroke her while she is lying down.
00:13:24:15
00:13:35:07
CU / Boy stroking cheetah
Emily: She is definitely the most friendly. She
cub
likes the most attention.
CU / Boys hand on the
Boy: Cool huh?
cheetah cub
Emily: Pretty cool huh?
Boy: Hmm-mm
00:13:37:08
Wide / Emily takes the little
Next it is time for little Hani to meet the cubs.
girls hand and they walk right
to left
00:13:41:10
Wide / Emily and girl
Emily: So we must come slowly so as to not
8
approach cub
give her a fright.
Boy: I did not hear.
Emily: You stay standing up, so you are nice
and big. That is it. Alright my darling, do not get
a fright.
Emily: Do not get a fright.
00:13:55:16
Med / cub hissing
Cub Wiay feels threatened Emily decides to get
the kids out quickly.
00:14:01:06
Med / Emily holding girl's
Emily: You are alright my darling, do not worry.
hand
00:14:04:04
Med / Emily holding girl's
Wiay’s response is a little worrying , if the cubs
hand
cannot cope with the encounters, they cannot
become cheetah ambassadors. Luckily they will
have another chance to prove themselves later.
00:14:19:05
Feuding Foxes
00:14:22:04
CU / bat-eared foxes at the
Nikki: We are ready to go and feed. Mike I am
fence
so glad you have made this. Tell me how did
you even think about this?
00:14:28:06
Med Wide / Nikki and Mike
Mike:Well, I would like to make up a story and
Talking about the fox box
say that I woke up in the middle of the night and
had this bright idea, but actually I have been
thinking about it, trying to find a way to keep
them separated, because as you know they get
very aggressive and..
Nikki: Hey! Brad!
00:14:45:11
Med / Nikki an Mike talking to Mike: So it worked pretty well.
each other
Nikki: I see you have made it in away that they
can still grow and we can fit bigger bowls inside.
Mike: Exactly! And then that also, um, keeps
them from trying to steal the adult's food.
00:14:55:20
Med CU / Nikki carries the
Nikki: I am going to try it one handed, because I
fox box
normally am on my own for this. They will run
out here first, there are no bowls here hey?
Mike: Ja, there we go.
Nikki: Come on, come on, come on, come on,
come on! Ok, I know you are hungry, let us try
9
and find some shade. Beep, beep. Beep, beep.
Beep, beep. Beep, beep.
00:15:13:18
00:15:21:15
Wide/ feeds Bard and Janet
To avoid food fights the parents Brad and Janet
separately
are fed separately
CU / pups feeding in fox box
Nikki: Success!
Mike: They have go a little more.
Nikki: Wow, I just worry about Brad and Janet,
normally I go in and just protect Bard's Bowl
from Janet, but she has got a lot better.
00:15:35:12
CU / pups feeding in fox box
Nikki: Sometimes I find they run – they grab a
piece and run off, but I see they have just
stayed, so that is awesome.
Mike: Ja.
Nikki: Oh, wow!
00:15:47:01
XCU / Pup feeding in fox box With bowls empty and the foxes happy, it looks
Mike's innovation, the fox box, has miraculously
restored the peace.
00:15:59:21
The Big Move
00:16:01:03
Med / Annie looks on as
At Paardevlei, Cheetah Outreach's future home,
Dawn and Liesl unload
young ambassador Chobe is in the spotlight.
Chobe from the car
Chobe is the star of today's photo session to
promote the big move. Prospective visitors need
to know where to come
00:16:16:10
00:16:31:03
Wide / Dawn and Liesl
Dawn: Hey Chobe, Chobes. Sit. Sit. . Sit. Sit
walking Chobe
Good Boy! Good Boy!
Med CU / Photographer
With Chobe's good looks visitors should be
takes a photo of Chobe
streaming through the gates.
00:16:48:10
Feuding Foxes
00:16:51:10
Med / Nikki stroking fox
Thanks to the fox box feeding time passed
without a fight.
00:16:58:13
Med Wide / Nikki and Mike
Nikki: Janet's um...
watch foxes inspect the fox
Mike: I know.
box
Nikki: What's this? Investigating the fox box.
Mike: Do not do that, Please! I spent a lot of
10
time slaving in the hot sun yesterday making
this.
Nikki: How long did it take you to make?
Mike: I think about four hours. Anything to help
maintain peace in the family.
00:17:18:11
Med Wide / Nikki leaving the And Nikki's got one more trick up her sleeve.
fox enclosure
00:17:22:13
Med Wide / Nikki leaving the Nikki: Getting the box and the bowls back out I
fox enclosure
found to be difficult as well, they try and follow it.
So Debbie have me the great idea of some, of
scattering some of the pellets and distracting
them while I try and get out of the gate.
00:17:34:20
CU / foxes eating pellets
Let's hope this fox box continues to work its
magic.
00:17:42:18
Vaila, Wiay, Uist and Xhosa
00:17:46:13
Med CU / Children and
Cubs Vaila and Wiay have not made a good first
parents enter the cub house
impression, but here comes their second
garden
chance. Two more children have now come to
visit.
00:17:57:06
Wide / Emily addresses the
Emily: What we are doing with our visits are, we
seated group of visitors
are having lots of different people come in to
meet the cubs, so that they learn how to meet
new people, because this is what are going to
be doing as ambassador cats. They will go out
and meet people, so that they can spread the
message about the conservation of the cheetah.
So we start from a very early age doing that,
getting people to come and meet them, so that it
is not a stressful experience for them, so it is
just run of the mill, day to day, nothing new.
00:18:30:00
00:18:38: 23
CU / Cubs playing with the
The cubs are more relaxed and this time stay
lure
calm and that’s good enough for Emily.
Med / Emily addresses the
Emily: Well thanks very much for coming guys.
visitors and let's them out
It is really useful for us to have you come here
through the gate
and socialise the cubs for us. You are doing an
important job. Hope you enjoyed it.
11
00:18:52:17
CU / Cub and ball
Emily: So we want these cats to have no
problem meeting the public and be really
comfortable and confident doing that and it is all
looking really positive in that respect so far.
00:19:07:22
The Big Move
00:19:11:03
Wide / Scenic Annie, Dawn
While the cubs are finding their feet, veteran
and Liesl walking a cheetah
cheetah Joseph is taking his first steps on the
new grounds.
00:19:17:13
Med Wide / Scenic Annie,
Dawn: I see we have nice down tree stump as
Dawn and Liesl walking a
well, we can use
cheetah
Annie: Well, yes I am hoping we will be able to
pull that into the running enclosure.
00:19:30:04
Med Wide / Annie talking to
Annie: I mean is it not beautiful?
Dawn and Liesl
Dawn: It is beautiful! The animals are going to
love this. Absolutely love this.
Annie: I think they are too.
00:19:35:15
Med / Dawn talking to Annie
Dawn: The view is beautiful and I think the
potential is amazing.
00:19:41:22
Med / Liesl talking to Annie
Liesl: I am really getting excited, I just
absolutely cannot wait. I just want the next few
months to be over and be here and get settled
and carry on.
00:19:56:23
The Guardians
00:19:58:06
Wide /Airport parking lot
A Cape Town International Airport Lesta is
about to collect two new puppies that will
hopefully restart the breeding program and fill
an empty space in Lesta's heart.
00:20:07:20
Med / Melda and Angel in the Recently Lesta said an emotional goodbye to
boot of a car
retired breeding dogs Angel and Melda, leaving
her heartbroken and the pup breeding program
in dire straits.
00:20:19:02
Med Wide / Lesta receives a Lesta: So these are our new puppies. They
crate
have been on flight from Johannesburg, so
probably quite stressed by now, although I don't
12
hear any noises.
00:20:30:08
Med Wide / Lesta's car
Lesta: Alright babies! We are going home now
darlings.
00:20:36:11
Med / Traveling view through Lesta: I am really looking forward to these two
car windshield
puppies, because they are joining out breeding
team and at last I am able to love and cuddle
some puppies, which of course with the working
ones we cannot do because they are not
allowed to be bonded to people. So one does
not give them affection and attention. Whereas
these will be staying with us. They can be
treated more like pets and that is going to be
such fun.
00:21:06:19
Wide / scenic vineyard
Lesta: There we are my babies! Home sweet
home.
00:21:15:18
Med Wide / Lesta opens the Lesta: Oh, listen to his growling.
bot of the car
00:21:20:18
Med Wide / Lesta removes
Lesta: Ok, sorry babies.
crate form boot of the car
00:21:26:00
CU / lest fondles tools
Lesta: Now how to get this darn crate open? I
hope this is going to do the trick.
00:21:39:01
Med Wide / Lesta opens the Lesta: Hello baby. Hello there. Sorry baby.
first crate
00:21:44:19
00:21:51:19
00:21:55:12
Med / Lesta carrying puppy
Lesta: Too heavy. So, I will just carry them in. O
into the enclosure
h there we are.
Wide / Annie arrives and
Annie: Just in time Lesta! What have we got?
runs towards Lesta
What have we got?
Wide / Annie arrives and
Lesta: This is a little girl.
runs towards Lesta
Annie: Oh, oh, sweetheart.
Lesta: She's pretty!
Annie: She’s beautiful. What a face.
Lesta: Come On!
00:22:04:06
Med / Lesta take puppy from The Anatolian breed originates in Turkey and
crate as Annie looks on
the Turkish stock will strengthen the genes in
13
the breeding program.
00:22:10:07
Wide / Annie looking at the
Annie: She is like a pudding. Look at the size of
female puppy
her.
Lesta: She is a fatty. Annie I just recently found
out we were getting these and I actually do not
know anything about them.
Annie: Well you know we were just absolutely
lucky. You know that we buy a lot of our
founding dogs from Hannelie. Their dad is from
the stud in Turkey. This female had
unexpectedly given birth to these puppies, so
she was on the phone to me in two minutes
saying, “Do you want some breeding dogs from
Turkish stock.” And of course, I could hardly turn
that down.”
00:22:42:21
Med / Puppies running along Looks like pups Gem and Toga will breathe new
the fence
life into the important Guard dog program.
00:22:49:02
Next time
Next time on The Cheetah Diaries
00:22:52:01
Aerial / Lionshead mountain Big Move drama as the race against time
begins.
00:22:55:08
Jib shot / entrance to
Dawn: Forty days to build everything? There is a
Cheetah Outrecah
huge amount of work to be done, getting the
new site prepared. We have not even pegged
out the enclosures. The general feeling at the
moment is panic.
00:23:06:21
Wide / Car driving with grass The cubs are moving out.
in foreground
00:23:08:17
Wide / Car driving with grass Maria: I think this is avery big day, because the
in foreground
last time they saw an adult cheetah was when
they were with their mother.
00:23:15:02
Med / handler carrying crate
Julie-Anne: I have been told that the big cheetah
with cubs
do not like the small cheetahs, so I am really
worried about how they are going to react.
00:23:19:21
Wide / exterior Cape Animal
Medical Centre
14
Chobe goes back under
00:23:21:14
CU / vet examining Chobe's
Liesl: It is always a concern putting any of our
mouth
cats under sedation. Especially if it is a cat that
had a very strong reaction to the sedative during
a previous examination.
00:23:31:13
Wide / Annie and Cyril
And cheetah conservation crosses borders.
greeting farmers
00:23:33:24
Med / Rebecca
Annie: She has come to see how the dogs are
applicable to cattle ranchers.
Credits
15