Dispatches
Cheetah Conservation – Namibia (Earthwatch Institute)
March 19, 2009
A grey afternoon as we head northeast from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. A spatter of much needed rain hits the windshield as we drive through mile after unpopulated mile toward the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). Patsy Cline is a strangely suiting soundtrack to this open, ancient frontier as we motor through a series of gates along a quiet, mango-hued dirt road before finally arriving at the CCF compound where our education begins.
The energized Earthwatch volunteers and cheerful staff of CCF welcome us to camp – an internationally-recognized center for cheetah research and education.
The world’s fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of 70 mph, the cheetah is an endangered species. Formerly a common animal found on 5 continents worldwide, due to loss of habitat, conflicts with humans and loss of genetic variation, the cheetah population has been diminished to approximately 10,000 worldwide. The largest remaining population is in Namibia where CCF champions their conservation.
The bare-bones but highly-motivated staff of CCF have a laser focus on cheetah survival through its many modalities: conservation of the species through rehabilitation, sanctuary, controlled release programs, habitat retention and reclamation, farmer education, genetic resilience, enriching its prey base and offsetting the competitive dominance of larger predators. A daunting but holistic to-do list to keep an endangered species from extinction, the CCF team is clearly up for the challenge.
We rise to document the cheetah feed the next morning – a journey to multiple compounds with the now-seasoned Earthwatch volunteers who are nearing the end of their two week tenure here at CCF. Volunteers hop jauntily from the back of a pickup to fill a bin with… cheetah food. Big cats are carnivores and they require large scale meat supplies on a daily basis for sustenance. Volunteers are candid about the experience of providing real meals to real cheetahs, “The first day we were here we had oryx heads… that was kind of gross. Random donkey parts aren’t quite as unnerving as feeding them a head with eyes and everything.”
We drive through a series of gates and once inside the compound, volunteers position themselves in the back of the truck. Volunteers hoist portions off the back of the truck as we speed along at around 30 mph, a pack (A sprint? A snarl?) of 14 female cheetahs barely gallop as they escort the feeding vehicle. With each portion tossed from the truck, the big cats hiss and spit at one another as each spirits away into the high grass with their “prey”, 14 throws later, the girls have been fed and the volunteers have one chore done in their daily list of chores that keep CCF running like a well-oiled machine, appreciatively dependent on its volunteers and dynamic as all get-out. In our short visit we witnessed the hosting of a worldwide cheetah conference, with representatives from the remaining African and Middle Eastern countries that have cheetah populations. The CCF is breeding livestock guarding dogs to distribute to farmers (fewer predator kills to livestock, fewer justifications to kill predators) alongside an aggressive farmer education program. They’ve brought local farmers to the CCF compound and watched them marvel at animals who they’ve spent a lifetime threatening and fearing… their wives and daughters holding hands to their hearts in panic as the farmers laugh nervously and take pictures with their camera phones (yes, cell phones are EVERYWHERE, even, maybe especially, in rural Africa). Visits that begin with nervousness and novelty give way to conversation and the realization that this organization understands its subject and may have some wisdom to share. Bridges are built, fingers are pulled off triggers, traps aren’t set and cheetahs survive another day.
Volunteers plant shade trees in the morning and participate in game counts on the CCF’s extensive property in the afternoon. Binoculars aimed out every direction from an aging safari vehicle, a single Earthwatch volunteer acts as accountant, pencil poised to paper as the reports chime in:
“I see 3 maribu storks,“
“ 5 warthogs…”
“…2 baboons – one juvenile, one adult…”
“…and is that a jackal?”
As the vehicle slowly lumbers back to camp, the sun begins to tilt toward sunset. The clouds collect; the winds kick up. Arid Namibia will get another hit of rain this evening… no one’s complaining, particularly not Matti, senior researcher, lead of the game drive and ad-hoc tour guide. “We Namibians, you see, we are so happy when we see this!” Clapping his hands, with a million-dollar grin on his face, he says, “It means that, oh yes, we will have a year of plenty. We live in a desert, so rain is very, very good.”
The timing of our visit was fortuitous. A female who’d been captured by a farmer had been brought to CCF 6 weeks prior. She’d been through countless trials including a root canal – hard enough for humans to endure, but how much more vexing and terrifying to a wild cheetah? The broad tracts of land that CCF has purchased outright or managed agreements with property owners have created a buffer of habitat for wild cheetahs – the right habitat and room to survive.
We drove to a clearing at the edge of CCF’s property as one of the cheetah keepers said, “We know there are a couple of wild males out here, so we know it is a viable habitat and she’ll have some company”. Her loading box is placed at the edge of high grass. A volunteer stood atop the box and slid the door ajar, which was followed by a snarl and the aggressive scratching sound of high speed nails building up for a departure and, like a shot addled with fluidity; we held our breath as she disappeared, the last snap of her tail an au revior. The crowd erupts into cheers – a fine day of work on behalf of the cheetah, now off to Sundowners (African cocktail hour).
The efforts of CCF staff and Earthwatch volunteers are like the voices of individual instruments in an elaborate musical piece – all parts feeding into a remarkable achievement designed to protect and preserve the wild cheetah. As powerful, inspiring collective, their efforts are a definitive force working toward the preservation of an endangered species.
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2 Responses to “Cheetah Conservation – Namibia (Earthwatch Institute)”
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Hi, I’m currently living in Singapore and I’m only 14 years old. Is there a way for me to help out these Cheetahs? I’m really very interested in them and can you provide me with the job opportunites available at your institute? Thanks alot!
Hi my name is Ashaunti Wiley and I love animals. One day I saw a program on channel eleven wttw Chicago, about cheetahs.I felt happy for the cheetah cubs that were adopted by an organization that saves young abandoned cubs who need help to be able to survive in the wild.It touched my heart when the two cubs were taken in and raised but what saddened my heart the most is when the two turned one,whoever was caring for them let them out into their natural habitat to roam free.Then one night a one of the cheetah’s got killed.Then the brother cheetah was left alone.That one program made a huge impact on the way I used to think about animals.If I could do anything to change that, it would be to go to Africa and get with others that care and change the world with support towards these beautiful exotic creatures. I hope others learn how to serve and protect the animals for they need help too.