Njozi the cheetah receives life-saving surgery at University of Pretoria
The beloved and well-known five-year-old female cheetah, Njozi, a resident of Rietvlei Nature Reserve in Pretoria, is currently recovering following specialised care at the wildlife clinic of the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Faculty of Veterinary Science at Onderstepoort.
This follows signs of lameness in her right forelimb. Njozi was located and captured with the assistance of game ranger Jeanri Weideman, thanks to the very high frequency (VHF) collar she wears. She was then darted and radiographed in the field by veterinary wildlife specialist Prof Katja Koeppel.
Radiographs revealed that Njozi had previously fractured two bones in her right forelimb — the radius and ulna. Unfortunately, these had healed incorrectly (a malunion) and had fused together (a condition known as synostosis), limiting movement in her paw and likely causing abnormal stress on the limb. This, in turn, led to a new fracture just above the original injury site.
She was taken into theatre on Tuesday, where Dr Adriaan Kitshoff, a specialist small animal surgeon, led a team from the faculty’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH) in performing the surgery.
“In theatre, we corrected both the previous malunion and the recent fracture by removing a wedge of bone and carefully realigning the limb,” explained Kitshoff.
The bones were then stabilised with two metal plates, and a small bone graft from her shoulder was used to promote healing. According to Koeppel, Njozi’s bandage was changed after the operation and she will continue to be managed and monitored by the team of wildlife veterinarians and students at the Faculty of Veterinary Science’s wildlife clinic.
Njozi has become a favourite of visitors to the Rietvlei Nature Reserve since her relocation from the Garden Route Game Lodge to the reserve in August 2020. In 2023, after she had given birth to five cubs, wildlife veterinarians and students from UP’s Faculty of Veterinary Science assisted the City of Tshwane with the capture and relocation of the five cheetah cubs.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za