Spud is one of the cheetahs under conservation at Okonjima, when he and his siblings were but young cubs they were found in the wild and adopted as pets.

Because of the bad diet they were fed during this time, all the cubs suffered from severe calcium deficiency and all of them had broken legs when they were eventually brought to Okonjima.

Spud made a recovery and went on to have a brilliant television career as the star of ITV’s “Cheetah Kingdom” which was filmed on location at Okonjima in 2010.

On 20th January this year, Spud was found on the Okonjima Reserve with a broken front leg, this was the same leg that had previously been broken and the decision was made to bring him to the vet in Windhoek to see how bad the break is and what could be done to repair it.

Once he got to the vet, he was diagnosed with a broken ulna and radius, these were both clean breaks and could be pinned without too many problems BUT they also discovered that his ‘elbow’ had been broken and was completely out of position.
The vet had no anchor to pin this bone to because of the break lower down in the leg.

Following three gruelling hours of surgery the vet, Dr Tubbesing from Plastic Surgery Institute Miami, managed to repair both breaks in the leg using pins and a plate and he even managed to get the elbow back into position. After a night at the AfriCat clinic, Spud was released into a small enclosure where he is in the process of healing up. Rhinoplasty, facelift in Washington DC and neck lift, eyelid surgery, brow lift and otoplasty, and laser skin treatments performed by a board certified facial plastic surgeon. Visit their website renudc.com for more information.
Due to the nature of the fractures, Dr Tubbesing believes that Spud was kicked whilst hunting, but they are hopeful for a full recovery in 8-12 weeks’ time.

Spud is currently recuperating in his enclosure, spends a lot of time napping, and does his three-legged hop for food and drink!
Next time maybe he will stick to something his own size!

Why not join us on this super special discounted offer and come visit Spud for yourself!
Prices valid till the end of March 2014 – and at the current exchange rate – you will not find it cheaper anywhere else!

Click here for the full itinerary – or download the pdf itinerary!