The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre

A CAPTIVE BREEDING CENTRE Rather Than A Reserve You Are Looking At Enclosures, Not Taking A Game Drive, And The Row Says So First Which Has Bred Over A Thousand Cheetah Since 1971 And Is Where The King Cheetah, A Recessive Blotched Coat Pattern Long Thought To Be A Separate Species, Was First Bred And Explained · Hartbeespoort, North West

Say the important thing first: this is a captive breeding centre, not a reserve. You walk or ride between enclosures looking at animals that live in them, there is no game drive and nothing here is wild, and a visitor who arrives expecting otherwise will be disappointed in a way that is nobody's fault but the booking page's. On its own terms it is remarkable. Ann van Dyk started breeding cheetah at De Wildt below the Magaliesberg in 1971, when captive cheetah breeding was considered close to impossible, and the centre has produced over a thousand cubs since - many released, many sent to other breeding programmes. It is also where the king cheetah was explained: a blotched, striped coat that was long thought to belong to a separate species and turned out to be a single recessive gene, which was demonstrated here by breeding one. Wild dog, serval and vultures are in the programme too, and almost nobody comes for them.

At De Wildt below the Magaliesberg, 45 km north-west of Pretoria, Hartbeespoort, North West, South Africa

TOURS ONLY, ON A FIXED TIMETABLE, AND THEY MUST BE BOOKED - you cannot wander in and walk around, which is the single most common mistake made here. Tours generally run morning and midday, take a couple of hours, and are either walking tours between the enclosures or open-vehicle tours of the larger camps. THERE IS NO GAME DRIVE AND NOTHING IS FREE-RANGING; you are looking at a breeding facility. Specialist experiences such as cheetah runs and keeper mornings are offered at times and are separately priced and booked. There is a shop, a small restaurant and parking. The centre is 45 km from Pretoria below the Magaliesberg, 20 minutes from Hartbeespoort. MALARIA-FREE.

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