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In the Wild – Cheetahs with Holly Hunter

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Swift, graceful, yet fragile, the cheetah has always been a source of fascination for Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter.  A quest to see cheetahs in the wild takes her to Namibia, home to a quarter of the world population.  At Etosha National Park she sees the first sign of the world’s fastest animal: cheetah paw prints in the sand.  Hunter travels by plane, train, Land Rover and on foot in order to understand the cheetah’s world.  “I’ve seen a picture of a cheetah…and in the picture you get this feeling of contained energy…everything about this animal is alive.  That’s what I want to see.”

Joining an air search for radio-collared cheetahs, she catches a fleeting glimpse of three males on a kill.  Holly then meets up with Cheetah Conservation director Laurie Marker Kraus, trying to release a male cheetah found in a farmer’s trap.  In South Africa she finally gets to see these cats in the wild.  After a night under the stars she is on hand when three cheetahs chase and bring down their prey.  About to leave for home, Hunter learns that Kraus has found a place to release the wild male from the trap, and she arrives just in time to help the caged cheetah run free.


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