Field report about the cheetah cub

Here is what we know about the new cheetah cub that arrived at CCF last Tuesday:

 

According to Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) official, the communal farmer had dogs barking during the night of Monday morning at the kraal (pen) and went to investigate. A mother cheetah with two cubs was found in the kraal and had killed already five goats. The mother and one cub managed to escape before the people came at the kraal but the remaining cub was captured. The next morning the local MET called to fetch the cub from the farm. He said that if the cub was old enough to fend for itself he would have released it in the area were the mother might be roaming still. Unfortunately the cub is about 4 months’ old and thus not old enough to be on its own. That is when they called CCF. The cub was in his office when we arrived, and to keep her from escaping –they don’t have animal facilities at the office, her hind legs were tied together. The official informed CCF staff that there is a big number of livestock losses in that region due to cheetah and leopard. CCF will certainly begin contacting farmers in the area to provide them with solutions to this issue. It is important to bear in mind that the loss of one single goat can case tremendous financial strain to these farmers, thus teaching the farmers how to avoid these losses is crucial.

 

Thanks,

Patricia