A new generation of cheetahs born in Liwonde National Park

Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT), responsible for running Malawi’s only wildlife rehabilitation centre and a key campaigner in Malawi’s fight against wildlife crime, have reported news of cheetah cubs recently born spotted in Liwonde National Park.

These cubs represent the third generation of cheetahs to be born in Liwonde since the reintroduction in 2017 by African Parks in partnership with Endangered Wildlife Trust and DNPW Malawi. Their great-grandmother (CF2, originally from Amakhala Game Reserve in South Africa) was one of the first cheetahs to be released into the park – she represented the first step in rebuilding the predator population after decades of decline.

Can you spot the cubs’ ‘mantles’ in the pictures above? There are several reasons cheetah cubs may have this long, silvery strip of fur running down their back. It might regulate their temperature, better disguise them in long grass or help them resemble honey badgers – a species with a ferocious reputation!

Lilongwe Wildlife Trust will continue to follow this young family as part of their work documenting cheetah breeding success, survival, population growth and predator interactions in Liwonde National Park.

Did you know you could get involved in this work? Lilongwe Wildlife Trust are offering volunteer programmes! To join their biodiversity monitoring team, check out our volunteer placements and see it for yourself in their video here