Cheetah Conservation Fund

Today, about 10,000 cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)remain in the wild. The ability of the cheetah to adapt to a changing ecological system brought about principally by conversion of its preferred habitat to farmland is the critical question in estimating the species survivability in Africa. The goal of continuing CCF research is to understand more fully aspects of the ecology of the cheetah on north central Namibian farmlands. Cheetahs are more numerous in Namibia than in any other country, but this could easily change as 95% of them are found outside protected reserves on commercial livestock farmlands. In Namibia wildlife belongs to the landowner. During the 1980's the Namibian cheetah population was halved and more than 10,000 cheetahs were removed by livestock farmers who considered the cheetah to be a threat to their livestock and wild game. The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) has as its mission to secure habitats for the long-term survival of cheetah and their ecosystems through multi-disciplined, integrated programs of conservation, research and education. The primary objectives of CCF research are to provide the base-line data necessary to understand the factors affecting the cheetahs' survival on the Namibian farmlands and to develop policies and programs to sustain the cheetah population in Namibia. Programs developed in Namibia can then be adapted for use in other countries where the cheetah is in need.

Research areas cover:

• Ecology of cheetah in the area, including density, feeding, and group size
• Home range requirements and migratory behaviors
• Overall health, reproduction and genetic makeup of the population
• Strategies to improve the status of cheetahs through changing farmers' attitudes by encouraging sound livestock, wildlife, and land management practices to reduce conflict for the species
• Specific strategies to improve the status of the cheetah through the use of non-lethal predator control methods, specifically the use of livestock guarding dogs
• Ongoing habitat research and bio-diversity studies

This research and information is then shared with the public as a whole through CCF local and international education programs. CCF also endeavors to bring global awareness to the plight of the cheetah by developing links with other organizations and individuals.