Cheetahs, the fastest land animals on earth, are struggling in the race against extinction. Once found throughout Africa and in much of Asia and numbering around 100,000 animals in 1900, cheetahs are now persisting in only 9 percent of their historic range. The global population is now estimated at about 7,000 animals.
This summer, I travelled to Namibia which is part of the home range of the world’s largest cheetah subpopulation, numbering close to 4,000. I visited the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) founded by Laurie Marker in 1990, and dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild. I had a chance to spend time with Dr. Marker, who is not only a very inspiring conservation leader who is making a real difference for cheetahs, but also a role model for young generations who want to help endangered species around the world. I photographed the adorable and energetic livestock guard dog puppies who are part of the cheetah’s future, and finally saw cheetahs for the first time in the wild, a childhood dream.
Sadly, because cheetahs live close to humans raising cows, sheep and goats, they are often held responsible for livestock losses, and farmers in Namibia have felt they had no other option but to kill the big cats to protect their herd. It is estimated that between 1980 and 1990 nearly 10,000 cheetahs were lost that way, according to CCF.
Laurie Marker is working hard to change that, and dogs have become part of the solution to reduce conflicts between farmers and big cats. Since 1994, the CCF been placing Anatolian shepherd and Kangal dogs on farms in Namibia to protect livestock against predators. It is a great program, that helps cheetahs and farmers live together.
To learn more about these dogs, and the role they play in solving conservation challenges, read my recent article for Ensia, and listen to my interview with CJ Heithoff for WTIP Radio on working dogs and endangered wildlife.
On December 4, we celebrate International Cheetah Day. There are many ways you can help this beautiful and fragile big cat survive: learn about cheetahs, talk to others about cheetahs, why you love them and want to see them saved from extinction. Visit the places where cheetahs live, support the conservation organizations around the world that help save cheetahs. Consider a donation to the Cheetah Conservation Fund.
Cheetahs need us all!