Cheetah Conservation Fund

Category: Cheetah - Education | Date: May 28 2008 | By: cheetahconservation

The Museums Association of Namibia invited CCF to give a presentation at their annual conference in order to raise awareness of the use of museums for conservation and environmental purposes. Of course we jumped at the chance to talk to the conference about why we think our museum is important. Often museums are associated with history and artefacts and people are often surprised that CCF has a cheetah museum. Through informational panels, cheetah related objects, and interactive displays we tell the story of the cheetah from its origin through its current status today in Namibia and the world. This was a great chance to make new friends here in Namibia and let people know what we are doing. Many at the conference were surprised to learn about CCF’s cheetah museum and also impressed with the amount of people visiting throughout the year. Number of tourism related visitors have risen from 1000 in 2002 to 5500 in 2007. We are well on our way to beat this in 2008. These numbers don’t include the number of school groups both international and national and the farmers from training courses.

After the presentation the issue was brought up that it seemed odd to have a museum focus on one species. What I pointed out is that while the focus is on the cheetah there are many bigger issues involved including habitats, prey species, and human’s role. It is important to understand that in order to have cheetahs you have to have a healthy ecosystem which is what much of our museum discusses. For example much of the focus of our farmer training courses are livestock and wildlife management rather than cheetah specifically. In ensuring the survival of a species you are ensuring the survival of an entire ecosystem.

From the conference we have made new contacts including farmers interested in dog programs, school groups wanting to visit, and the possibility of an internship through the Museums Association.

Posted by Laura Linn - CCF Administrative Assistant (Namibia)

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