Did you know that the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, the fastest land mammal on earth, is Africa’s most endangered big cat? Fewer than 7,500 are estimated to remain in the wild and they are classified on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable. The main threats to cheetah survival are habitat loss, human-carnivore conflict, and the illegal wildlife trade. Today, cheetahs are found in only one-tenth of their former range in Africa, mostly on farmland outside of protected parks. Many exist in small populations isolated from other cheetahs because of fencing and other human influences on the land that block free movement across larger ranges. Yet, there is hope for these amazing big cats, thanks in part to the tireless efforts of the hardworking staff of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) and their community partners who are all helping to save the cheetah.
CCF is based in Namibia, a country in southwest Africa that has one of the largest remaining cheetah populations in the world. With the motto “save the cheetah, save the world,” CCF uses research, community-based conservation, and education to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and healthy ecosystems by working with communities where cheetahs live. When CCF was founded in 1990, cheetahs were disappearing at an alarming rate. Executive Director Dr. Laurie Marker and her staff wanted to understand why this was happening and what could be done to help save them before it was too late. After listening to people who share the land with cheetahs, like farmers with livestock that were sometimes killed by predators, they understood that to help save these magnificent animals, they needed to find an approach that helped both cheetahs and farmers.
CCF’s programs teach people about the important role cheetahs as predators play in a healthy ecosystem, including keeping populations of prey like small antelopes in check to prevent overgrazing of precious grassland. CCF teaches farmers ways to prevent livestock loss without harming cheetahs and how to keep their herds healthier so farmers can make a living wage. Through its youth education programs, CCF inspires young people to become conservationists. All of CCF’s conservation and education programs are based on research by CCF scientists, who study cheetah movement, habitat preference, health, diet, range, and more to monitor cheetah populations and increase survival odds for wild cheetahs and the sick and orphaned cheetahs in CCF care. CCF’s efforts have helped stabilize the cheetah population in Namibia and are helping save the cheetah throughout its range.
Over the next few blogs in this series, learn more about how CCF is helping people as well as the cheetah; why dogs can help save cats; who gets to be an ambassador cheetah; successes and challenges; how you can help; and more!
