King Cheetah Pictures

The chances of wild king cheetah pictures opportunities on safari range from extremely unlikely to zero. You are looking at the rarest big cat in the world.

Cheetah Royalty

There are estimated to be less than ten king cheetah living in the wild and the total world population is around 60 animals. Most of the ones in captivity were bred at the De Wildt Cheetah Centre in South Africa which has been very successful in raising them.

Are King Cheetah Pictures on Safari Possible?

Possible, but highly unlikely. The animal was regarded as a myth because it was seen so infrequently and between 1926 when it was first reported in Zimbabwe and 1975 when the first ever photograph was taken of one in the Kruger National Park there were only five reported sightings.

Your best bet of seeing one in the wild would seem to be the Timbavati area of the Kruger Park but you could drive around for a very long time and never find it.

King Cheetah Family

In captivity the best place to see them is at the De Wildt centre where there are a number of them and they have been so successful with the breeding program that several have been exported to zoos worldwide.

The birth of a king cheetah at the centre in 1981 to normal parents put paid to theories that it was a separate subspecies and launched the breeding program that contributed to the majority of the worlds population of king cheetah being descendants of the De Wildt cats.

The unique coat pattern is as a result of a recessive gene mutation similar to that of the black leopard which needs to be present in both parents.