History
The centre is situated on what was originally Van Dyk's parent's chicken farm, which they acquired in 1950. Due to her compassionate nature, Ann soon had a collection of stray and injured cheetas on the farm. Then, in October 1968, a local farmer offered her two cheetah cubs, which she accepted.
However, the cubs had been acquired without the necessary permits and, when they enquired about obtaining these permits, the cubs were confiscated and sent to the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa in Pretoria.
Meanwhile, the Zoo had already established a successful captive breeding programme, but further expansion was limited due to the lack of land available in its urban setting. Consequently, they had been considering acquiring a more rural breeding site.
Ann and her eldest brother, Godfrey, thus offered to the Zoo management the use of their facilities for captive breeding programmes. This offer was accpted and the centre officially opened on 16 April 1971.
Ann van Dyk received the gold medal award of the South African Nature Foundation for her contribution towards captive breeding of cheetah in 1988.
The Centre has recently been renamed The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre as a tribute to the woman who has dedicated her life to saving rare and endangered species.
Read more about this topic: De Wildt Cheetah And Wildlife Centre
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