Hi buddy, this is either gonna go really well or really bad.

(deep purring)

(dynamic jungle music)

For the various non-predatory animals,

that call the South African savanna home,

survival is no walk in the park.

Roaming giants such as the elephant

depend on their massive size and intimidating presence

to keep out of the predators' sites,

while smaller hoof stock like the impala

depend on their speed and cunning agility

to escape the jaws and claws of doom.

Yet size and speed are no guarantee that you will survive,

as this wild place is a constant circle of life,

where every single day, there's a good chance,

that you or someone you know will be hunted.

Survival sounds

(roaring)

and likely is terrifying,

as hidden within the tall, golden grasses,

silent predators are constantly stalking within the shadows

and if you aren't careful,

you may find yourself in the wrong place

and ultimately at the wrong dinner table.

Today we are visiting the Kragga Kamma Game Park,

an easily accessible and secure stretch of wilderness

located in the Eastern Cape,

that is home to a variety of African icons,

but most notably the cheetah,

these beautiful cats, despite their calm demeanor

are considered to be perfect predators

and their lethal attack

comes with a combination of stealth and speed.

(deep purring)

Since childhood, I have adored cheetahs,

so much so, that I even dressed up as one for Halloween.

See those distinct eye stripes?

My field marks were on point.

As an adult, getting up close with one of these speedy cats

for the Brave Wilderness channel

has always been a top priority,

so today I'm going to be given the chance

to work alongside Terri, a cheetah conservationist

and with her help, I'm going to have

an incredibly special encounter with Monty.

- [Mark] Alright Coyote, are you ready?

- I don't know if you can ever be ready

to enter an enclosure with a cat.

Now I've palled around with a bobcat

and also you guys have certainly seen the ocelot episode,

but today's the first time we're getting to work

with an official big cat,

the smallest of the big cats, the cheetah

and I have loved cheetahs ever since I was a little kid

and this is the first time

I'm ever gonna get to interact with one,

so I'm a little nervous,

hopefully it will acclimate to me quickly

and we'll have a good interaction,

but the cameras are fired up and ready to go

and I see Terri signaling that it is time

to enter the cheetah enclosure,

you guys ready for this? - Let's do it.

- Here we go.

(deep purring)

Gosh, listen to that purring,

wow.

Look at you.

Full grown, right?

- He's fully grown. - Monty is full grown,

now can I approach Monty?

- You can approach him. - Okay.

- [Terri] Just come by and pet him.

- This is my first interaction with a cheetah.

Hi buddy, this is either gonna go really well or really bad.

Let's see, hi.

(deep purring)

How are you?

Whoa.

Gosh,

guys, can you hear that purring?

I'm sure the camera can pick it up.

Look at his whole throat is vibrating.

Alright, well, do you think that we can

bring Monty down here into the open

- Sure. - and see if he will

come up on that log for us?

- We could try. - Nervous, (laughs)

this is so cool.

- Come, boy. - Alright.

- Come on, teeker. - Wow.

- [Terri] Come on here.

- I'll tell you this much, you get that close to a cat,

once you enter through the fence

and you're on this side with it,

my heart's racing right now, it's very intimidating.

Keep in mind, like I said,

this is the smallest of the big cats

and still look how large this animal is,

a perfectly designed predator,

we'll get into more of that in a second,

but let's transition Monty over here out into the open.

We're inside of his enclosure right now,

this is his domain,

right now, Mario is about to make contact.

Look at this.

(deep purring)

(light melodic music)

- The real goal in this moment is just for Monty

to get acclimated to myself, to Mark, to Mario,

to realize there's cameras inside of his enclosure.

Here he comes, hi Monty.

The thing that's so cool about this cat

is the length of its legs, perfectly designed predator

and designed for speed, that's the first thing

I really wanna take a look at,

as we know, cheetahs are the fastest land predator,

look at the size of the paws, big paws,

look at those paws, look at that

and the claws don't fully retract,

now they use those claws like cleats

and that will actually help the cheetah

to gain traction as it springs into action

after anything that it's going to try to catch.

- [Mark] So is this at all intimidating to you, Coyote?

- Yeah, you know, it's tough to get completely comfortable

next to a cat of this size,

but as long as Monty is purring like that,

Terri tells me that he is content and feeling really good

and I saw Terri doing this,

scratching the sides of his head, oh, okay, maybe not yet.

Alright, Monty's heading in this direction

over into the shade, let's follow him.

(light melodic music)

- [Mark] So Coyote, what does the coat feel like?

- It is very dense, the fur up on top of the head is bristly

and on its haunches, it kind of feels

like the fur of a buffalo

and then it's much more sleek

running down the side of the animal,

you can see how streamlined this creature is,

obviously perfectly designed for speed,

(deep purring)

cheetah speed.

- Oh. - Oh, flick you with the tail.

- I got whacked with the tail there.

Monty, can I analyze your tail real quick?

Let's see what happens.

- Oh. - Oh, look at that.

- [Mark] Sure can, there you go.

- That is a long tail right there,

rather heavy too.

I like how Monty decides that once we try to get a shot,

he's gonna flop over on this side,

so he gives you, which is actually kinda cool,

we wanna look at some of the design of Monty's coat,

cheetahs are so iconic for their spots,

which allow them to perfectly camouflage

in all of the tall grasses,

so it's a mix of light and shadow that allows them to hide,

as they're stalking their prey.

Look at these little ears,

they have a great sense of hearing, great eyesight,

now, it's a diurnal species,

they primarily hunt during the day

and if you take a good look at Monty's eyes there,

look at how big they are, they have incredible vision,

that allows them to see prey from extensive distances

and then they can slowly stalk in

and prepare to ambush and attack.

- [Mark] So Coyote, is a cheetah similar to a lion,

where it's in a pride or is it like a tiger,

where it's a solo animal?

- Oh, that's a great question,

what most people don't realize is that cheetahs,

females specifically are mostly solitary,

unless they have cubs, but when it comes to males,

a group of cheetahs is called a coalition,

so oftentimes you'll see two or three brothers

hanging out together, but the females, primarily solitary,

unless it's during breeding season or if they have cubs.

It is almost time for lunch

and what's really cool is that Terri's gonna allow us

to stay inside the enclosure, while Monty has his lunch,

you guys wanna get some cool shots of that?

- [Mark] Do we get lunch after?

- If you like horse meat,

then yes, you can also have some lunch.

- [Mark] I was thinking like a sandwich.

- Yeah, a sandwich is probably a better idea, huh?

- [Mark] Alright, let's go watch Monty.

- Let's feed Monty.

Out of all the animals that we have featured

on this channel eating,

I think this is probably gonna be the largest predator,

this, this is the real deal right here.

That is awesome

and just like all big cats, they chew from the side,

they actually use their large canine teeth

to inflict the kill, it's almost like scissors,

the way that they have to cut the meat apart into chunks,

then swallow it down whole.

Whoa,

oh, the sound of those jaws

just crushing through that meat's incredible.

- [Mark] So you could never do this with a wild cat?

- No, you would never get this close

to a cheetah in the wild regardless,

but you know, Monty is so used to being around humans,

it's okay for me to be this close to him, while he's eating

and when cheetahs are out in the wild and they get a kill,

they will oftentimes eat as much as they can,

they have a lot of competition out there in the grasslands,

hyenas will come in and steal away their food,

lions will chase them off the kill,

so once you get something to eat,

you take advantage of that moment

and chomp down as much as you can.

- [Mark] And after this,

Monty's probably gonna what, take a nap?

- Take a nap and then a meaty poop, I would guess.

Alright buddy, yeah, you're such a good cat.

He seems to be comfortable with me at this point.

- [Mark] God, you're really close to each other. (laughs)

- That's really close to a cheetah right there,

real close to the kill zone too.

(deep purring)

I think Monty is pretty comfortable with us

though at this point.

Well, that's pretty cool, getting face to face

with the speediest cat here in South Africa,

the one and only cheetah.

I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave,

stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

(light orchestral music)

The Kragga Kamma Game Park is home

to a wonderful cheetah conservation program

and it's animal ambassadors like Monty,

that are helping to educate the public about these cats

and the importance of preserving their futures.

When I look back on my time spent working alongside Monty,

it's hard to describe in words

what it feels like to make contact with a cheetah,

here is this animal, that I loved as a kid

and I'm now face to face with as an adult,

it was truly a dream come full circle,

that took me over 30 years to accomplish

and in those final moments, as I said my goodbyes to Monty,

I felt my inner child smile,

knowing that cheetahs are just as perfect in real life