Cheetah Conservation Fund

Support the Cheetah Census 

In Namibia, cheetahs, despite their classification as a threatened species, have long been persecuted by farmers, with the aim of reducing depredation upon farmed livestock and game. Implementing suitable conservation strategies hinges upon developing reliable estimates of population status and trends. Search dogs have proved to be a highly effective tool in the development of such wildlife studies.

To this effect, in March 2009 CCF welcomed Finn, a border collie trained to sniff out cheetah scat (poop) in Namibia so that cheetah movements can be tracked.  Finn was born on March 7, 2007, and like CCF's livestock guarding dogs, he is another of CCF's canine partners in the fight to save cheetahs. His desire to work and his sparking personality made him the perfect choice for a very special job - he is CCF's first cheetah scat dog. He has been specially trained to search for and locate cheetah scat by scent, and then signal to his handlers that he's found something by sitting. Finn was raised and trained by staff from the Philadelphia Zoo, and moved to Namibia to join the census team at CCF.

He will be a valuable asset in the fight to save cheetahs because, thanks to him, CCF will be able to determine the efficacy of the search dogs in detecting cheetah scat, and estimate the dogs’ accuracy of species identification.

After you have completed your transaction, you will be able to download a poster of Finn through the link shown on your receipt. (Photos courtesy of Chris Bartos - Philadelphia Zoo)