Cheetah Conservation Fund

Category: Cheetah - General | Date: Oct 12 2007 | By: admin

In Namibia, the country with the largest number of wild cheetah and CCF’s home base, CCF has achieved important results. Internationally, CCF actively works raising awareness, communicating, educating and training. CCF’s Dr. Laurie Marker is a member of the Core Group of the IUCN’s Cat Specialist Group (CSG), and maintains international communications on the status of cheetah populations worldwide, including their relationship with man, and threats to their survival. However, there is much that needs to be done throughout cheetah-range countries. We must continue to build capacity in these areas.

CCF not only endeavours to conserve the cheetah and its habitat but also to act as a conservation model for other species in conflict with humans, and hence our commitment to globalise our programmes for use in other countries and with other species in conflict with humans.

Our international programme currently includes distributing CCF materials, lending resources and support, and providing training throughout Africa and the rest of the world. Already, CCF is supporting a small satellite office in Kenya. In addition, CCF has trained and helped develop satellite programmes in Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Iran, where it continues to provide support, advice, and monitor progress. We are attempting to increase support to cheetah-range countries through the establishment of new centres using the working model developed in Namibia. Shorter-term actions include:

Kenya - The Kenya cheetah population has declined over the past decade. The Kenya Wildlife Service has asked CCF to determine population distribution in the country as well as to identify population needs. CCF established a Kenyan satellite centre and employed two staff to begin research, conservation and education programmes. As it is in its infancy stage it is actively networking throughout Kenya, identifying and communicating with stakeholders to develop confidence and cooperation. And, as was first done when CCF Namibia was established, it is beginning its research with farmer surveys to analyse issues, attitudes and management practices and with eco-system research in game monitoring. Results of research indicate that land fragmentation results in cheetah livestock conflict in high human population areas, with farmers doing very little to alleviate the problem in non-lethal manners. In addition, CCF is assisting with a project in the Masai Mara to study the impact of tourism on cheetahs and has worked with the industry to distribute awareness materials. In cooperation with Friends of Conservation, Kenya Wildlife Service, and Kenya Wildlife Clubs, CCF has provided student and teacher resource materials for their use in schools throughout Kenya. For more information about CCF’s work in Kenya, click here.

Botswana - Botswana’s cheetah population may be the second-largest free-ranging population, and a large percentage of these are found outside of protected areas. Botswana has used CCF as a model in the development of their programmes. CCF has trained the Botswana Cheetah team in handling cheetahs and in developing survey and educational materials that will be utilised with the local farming community. A Livestock Guarding Dog programme is being developed to assist in non-lethal predator control.

South Africa - CCF helped establish Cheetah OutReach, which uses hand-raised, captive-born cheetahs as educational ambassadors at local schools, and introduces the public to the problems facing the cheetah. Cheetah OutReach has adapted CCF’s Namibian education model and has developed and implemented school curriculum with the Western Cape Education Department. This model is being taken into other areas of South Africa.

Iran - The Iranian Cheetah Conservation project is supported by a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) grant titled “Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah, Its Natural Habitat and Associated Biota.” As CCF’s director, Dr. Marker has made several trips during dangerous times to participate in and guide the conservation planning of the last Asian cheetahs.

North and West Africa (Sahel cheetah) - Dr. Marker is an active member of a newly developing North and West African project to identify the needs to save the Sahel cheetah. Currently working in cooperation with the French Zoological Park, the Paris Museum of Natural History, and the Cat Specialist Group, CCF is working to identify key partners to assess the problems and to assist with developing a survey to assess cheetah distribution.

Ethiopia - In November 2005, CCF representatives were able to coordinate a group of Ethiopian officials and concerned individuals helped by representatives in the US Embassy in Addis, the US military unit, and the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme to rescue two cheetah cubs in Gode –south eastern Ethiopia, and transport them to safety. The circumstances of this rescue made evident the problems facing wildlife in that country. Consequently, CCF and the team in Ethiopia are working with other Ethiopian officials and international organisations to develop a protocol for future cases of illegal catching of young animals. In addition, CCF has made recommendations for training and capacity building.

None of CCF’s practices are specific to Africa or cheetahs; thus, many of our programmes are being replicated around the world by other wildlife conservation organisations. Training programs that CCF has developed to work with communities are being incorporated by the Iranian Cheetah Society, Global Cheetah Forum, Laikipia Predator Project in Kenya, Predators and People in Tanzania, and the Jaguar Conservation Fund. CCF’s success was used as a model to form the Wildlife Conservation Network, which uses an entrepreneurial approach in choosing programmes supporting other endangered species including the Andean cat, African wild dogs, and Ethiopian wolves.

Share This