Nature features

Although there was much attention on the plight of cheetahs in Namibia through the efforts of Dr Laurie Marker and the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Rebecca noticed there were little or no studies being done on the wild cheetahs of Botswana, Namibia’s neighbouring country.

Louise Egerton

It's estimated that since the beginning of the century cheetah numbers have declined by 90% to as little as 10,000 individuals now remaining across the globe. They are now an endangered species and if sufficient efforts are not made in the next 10-30 years they risk extinction in the wild.

Botswana is considered one of the most important stronghold areas for the species and therefore CCB’s role is critical in working to conserve the cheetah and make a population estimate for this county. The project currently has three site areas. 

Mokolodi

Mokolodi Wildlife Reserve was CCB’s initial base where the majority of the fundraising, marketing and admin now take place. Mokolodi wildlife orphanage cares for two adult male cheetahs here named Duma (cheetah in Swahili) and Latotse (cheetah in Setswana). They have been cared for here since they were cubs as their mother was shot by farmers in the Ghanzi district.

CCB use Duma and Latotse as flagships for their species and many people including local school groups can come and meet them and learn about cheetahs and why they are endangered. Since they have been in captivity all their lives they are very tame and will allow you to stroke them. The first time you hear a cheetah purr is a very rewarding experience!

Jwana Game Park

CCB’s first field base is in Jwana Game Park near Jwaneng in the Kalahari. The project also houses three cheetahs which were brought in as small cubs after their mother was again shot by farmers in Ghanzi. They are over a year old now and are due to be released back into the wild within the next few months. Because of their planned release they have been kept as wild as possible and have no human contact.

Tracking is also a main component at Jwaneng. Every morning four transects, covering the majority of the park, are thoroughly searched for cheetah spoor. All of this data will be entered onto a new software programme which will be able to calculate the cheetah population in the 20,000 ha of the reserve.

Eventually we hope to use this programme in all of our sites to build up a better idea of cheetah numbers across the entire country.

Ghanzi

Two other volunteers and I work in Ghanzi which is considered the problem hotspot area for wild cheetah. One of the main reasons why cheetahs are endangered is because they are coming into conflict with livestock farmers. Because of their submission and lack of strength compared to other predators such as lions and hyenas, they are gradually being pushed out of protected areas and wander into farmlands often preying on livestock for an easy meal.

Cheetah, by Louise Egerton

Many farmers consider cheetah as a pest and an economic threat to their livelihoods, and will shoot them on site. CCB wanted to work in the Ghanzi district in particular as it is the ‘capital of cattle country’ and many of the outside farms border the Central Kalahari Game Reserve which naturally tend to have predator problems. 

As Botswana doesn't have an up to date population estimate for the cheetah, there are only five cheetah quoted annually to be used as trophy hunting in Botswana as opposed to the 250 for leopard. Although on the face of it this may sound like a positive thing for the cheetahs, this actually has a negative effect. Farmers are less inclined to tolerate their presence on their land if they don't gain any economic benefit from them. Therefore an un-restricted amount of cheetahs are being killed each year rather than a government-controlled amount.

Setting up camp

When we first arrived we had little more than a tent, running water and an outside stove so the first couple of months were spent on setting up the camp with a building and electricity. We are based about 2kms away from Ghanzi town on a retired farmer’s small plot of land.

The two main focuses in Ghanzi camp are the community work and the trapping and tracking of cats. My role is to get involved with the local farming and school communities.

Cheetahs in the wild

So far we have conducted ten interviews with local farmers to gather our first information on farming management techniques, frequency of cheetah visits, numbers of individuals removed and their attitude to cheetahs in general.

We are hoping to eventually obtain data from the majority of Ghanzi’s commercial farmers and an equal proportion of communal farmers. 

For further information about how our work develops including school visits, farmers’ opinions and our attempts at catching cheetah please see this website.

If you would like more information about this project or if you are interested in volunteering for a year please see CCB’s website at www.cheetahbotswana.com or click on the link below: