British-born cheetahs to be released into the wild in South Africa
![Brothers Saba [L] and Nairo will leave the UK on 6 February: Aspinall Foundation](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/SaOTBIrdYVZ0PO3UmPXN1g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_independent_577/cca33dac1e9fb01d63c21c489292b4b7)
Two cheetahs born in Britain will be released into the wild in South Africa next month in a world first for wildlife conservation.
Brothers Saba and Nairo were born at Port Lympne in Kent and have spent the first two and a half years of their life in the county's Howletts Wild Animal Park.
It will be the first time cheetahs raised in captivity have left the UK for re-wilding in Africa, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The cheetahs will leave the UK on 6 February and will be flown to a sanctuary in Western Cape before moving to Mount Camdeboo Private Game Reserve, a 35,000 acre site in Great Karoo.
They will undergo a re-wilding programme developed by the Ashia Cheetah Sanctuary, which has seen nine captive-born cheetahs successfully released into the wild since beginning in 2018.
Cheetahs are classed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 7000 remaining in the wild.
Additional reporting by Press Association
