HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS

This month we are launching a new initiative called HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS.  Cheetah Conservation Fund created a team that can be part of any CCF approved charity team around the country for runners, walkers, bikers, and other racers who want to participate in athletic events and raise money to help save the cheetah by supporting CCF.  

Dr. Laurie Marker and Honorary HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS Chairperson Jack Hanna invite you to join the first HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, May 18, 2014 as they run or walk in the Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.  Join as a virtual team member and receive all the team benefits, even if you can’t join us in person. 

HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS Honorary Chairperson, Jack Hanna.Recognized around the country as America's favorite zookeeper, Jack Hanna is Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, a conservationist, author, television personality, and lifelong adventurer.   We are very happy to have Jack Hanna supporting our new HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS initiative. 

This is our first charity team event in what is planned to be a series of HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS athletic events around the country, raising awareness and money to save the cheetah in the wild by engaging in outdoor activities like running, walking or biking.    

Want to join the team? Go to:  http://www.cheetah.org/humansforcheetahs for details on the event and how to join in the fun in Portland. We are pleased to be an official charity partner of the Portland Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. 

In exchange for donating or raising $250 for CCF, we will cover the cost of your registration as a HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team member in the Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. There are all kinds of ways you can raise money, but we’ve set up an online campaign with Crowdrise to help you!

As part of the HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team, you’ll be invited to a special team party May 17^th. Meet fellow team members and be inspired by a cheetah ambassador.  To show your team pride, you get a Nike dri-fit team shirt.

Coming from out of town?  Team members may stay at The Paramount Hotel in Portland and receive a 25% discount for a rate of $149.50 per night plus tax on May 17 and May 18.

http://www.portlandparamount.com

But the great news is that you can be a member of HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS, even if you don’t want to run a half marathon. Become a Virtual Team member, and receive all the benefits of a team member, just by raising money for CCF.

And there are even more ways you can get involved.  You can support a team member by donating to their fundraising effort. For as little as $10 you can make a difference to an athlete looking to help win the race against extinction. Go to our team page at Crowdrise here.

http://www.crowdrise.com/humansforcheetahs/fundraiser/cheetahconservationf. You can even use a personal milestone like a birthday or anniversary to  adopt a team member.  Ask people to support the HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team in lieu of gifts.

The most important part of our new HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS effort is that we’d like to see more teams, in more sports activities in more cities. Contact beth@cheetah.org if you would like to coordinate a HUMANS FOR CHEETAHS team in your city.  

As is always the case, an effort like this doesn’t happen without the help of some awesome humans.  Teresa Delaney, a Trustee Emeritus of CCF has been spearheading this project with Co-Chair Dave Bell.  Dylan Lee and Andy Prince, who work at Wieden + Kennedy Advertising Agency, donated their time and amazing talent to create our beautiful logo and are helping with CCF’s messaging of the event.  We would also like to thank Ecotrust and Foot Traffic for their support.

If you are interested in becoming a team sponsor, please contact Teresa Delaney at teresa@cheetah.org

ABOUT THE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HALF MARATHON IN PORTLAND:

For more information about the Portland Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon course and other details, go to:

http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/portland?gclid=CJmZx-aznLwCFRFyQgodvxIAMA

A Black Friday for CCF

Quasar

We were abruptly awakened by a commotion at dawn on Friday morning involving three of our resident, non-releasable cheetahs.  Somehow the three cheetahs from the coalition we call “the Stars” managed to escape their enclosure. Quasar and his sister Soraya were nowhere to be found. Quasar’s brother Phoenix had found his way into the goat pen area.

Dr. Bruce Brewer, our General Manager, quickly brought Phoenix back to his camp, while staff, volunteers, students and interns went out to search for the two missing Stars.

It was not long before we found Quasar. He hadn’t gone far, but was badly injured. He had lost a great deal of blood. Quasar had serious injuries to his abdomen, which we later determined were most likely inflicted by a warthog tusk. He might have been trying to hunt the warthog, and the warthog defended itself from this inexperienced hunter. Quasar, orphaned since birth, never had the opportunity to learn survival skills from his mother. Knowing how to identify dangerous animals, maintaining a territory, finding water, knowing when to walk away from a kill, or what to hunt or how, are essential to a cheetah’s success in the wild.

Once Quasar was discovered, a flurry of activity began. Some of us kept looking for Soraya, others prepared to safely transport Quasar to the CCF Clinic, while yet others were phoning the vet in Otjiwarongo, Dr. Axel Hartman, and prepping the clinic for surgery.

Dr. Hartmann and CCF’s veterinarian, Dr. Amelia Zakiewicz, performed a two-hour surgery to clean and suture the damage caused by the warthog tusk. There was fear of peritonitis, but in the end the surgery went well and Quasar was put on close watch to make sure that he was recovering well after such a traumatic injury and significant procedure. Unfortunately, his heart stopped a few hours later, and despite all our efforts to resuscitate him, it did not resume beating. Our Star, Quasar, passed away at 2:40 that afternoon, and left a tremendous hole in all our lives – most especially his brother Phoenix’s.

Soraya

Soraya is still out there and we continue to look for her. CCF’s Senior Ecologist, Matti Nghikembua, who is an amazing tracker, has found what seem to be her tracks in the area, but female cheetahs are notoriously more difficult to find than males. We believe she’s doing well –in captivity, she has caught small animals, and might be doing the same in the wild. Perhaps she has chosen freedom. She was the most independent of the three siblings, and is very likely the most capable of surviving on her own. We hope to find her soon, but if we don’t, we wish her a life full of good kills and maybe even some litters.

CCF is located in wild lands – we are hours away from the nearest city, the land is drought-ridden and life here can be very hard. Last Friday points out this stark reality for all of us. It was one of our blackest days ever at CCF. All of us at CCF are shattered at the loss of Quasar, and worried for Soraya’s survival. At least we can be grateful that Phoenix is safe. Quasar will never be far from us who knew him, and like Chewbaaka, we will honour him through the ongoing work we do to save his species. Despite the high emotion and unexpected loss, our outstanding team of staff, interns and volunteers is carrying on. There are farmers to educate, Livestock Guarding Dogs to breed, a Model Farm to run, research to complete. Life at CCF has to go on; today we have eight newborn dairy goats that give us a reason to smile and to gather strength. More importantly, the race against extinction for the cheetah can’t stop, not if we want to win it. A tragedy like this, as difficult as it is, only makes us more determined.

Quasar

A Garden for Cheetahs

In early February, the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) began building a diverse organic vegetable garden at its International Research and Education Centre outside of Otjiwarongo, Namibia. The main garden site is about 13 by 22 meters and features long straight beds in the style of farm scale vegetable production, as well as keyhole beds demonstrating home scale gardening with meandering pathways.

The garden as a blank slate.

 As part of a greater effort to engage in environmentally aware operations and wise resource use, CCF decided to produce fresh vegetables to feed people consuming food onsite daily. This includes more than 40 staff and volunteers, visitors to the Cheetah Café, and guests of Babson House luxury accommodation. A study from 2005 showed Namibia is importing 80% of its fruits and vegetables, mostly from South Africa. Importing so much produce entails transporting it across long distances, increasing use of fossil fuels and carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Localizing food production will not only help CCF reduce the environmental and social impacts of transporting food; it will also provide fresher, tastier, more nutritious meals and save money.

CCF Volunteer Jenna Brager and Staff gardener Petrus Johannes shaping beds after manure application.

Rising to the challenge of heavy clay-sand soil, we used every bit of aged manure from CCF’s farm and then made use of a by-product from our Bushblok production – wood dust. All these materials are mixed into parent soil to improve fertility and organic matter content. As beds are prepared for upcoming plantings, we are just beginning to integrate the first batches of finished compost we are currently producing from food scraps, which is an essential ingredient for any organic garden.

A bit of CCF’s seed library. All seeds were donated by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in the United States.

Since we began in February, our plantings include beans, beetroot, carrots, daikon radishes, peas, squash, lettuces, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, cilantro, chard, endive, mustard, rocket, spinach, radishes, okra, and sunflowers and other flowers to attract pollinators. We are in the midst of transplanting onions, leeks, artichokes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kohlrabi.

In less than four months since the garden’s inception, we are harvesting twice per week a diverse salad mix --radishes, peas, turnips, chard, mustard, a braising greens mix, cilantro, and flowers. By having this much diversity in a small space, we are able to use organic methods and keep the garden chemical-free. Biodiversity in a garden habitat invites beneficial insects to do the work of managing unwanted insects. The vegetables are therefore healthier for the environment, the growers, and the consumers. CCF thanks Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, an American company based in Missouri and distributing from California, for donating more than 60 varieties of heirloom vegetable seeds. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is preserving agricultural and culinary heritage by carrying the largest selection of seeds from the 19^th century.

CCF kids and Staff gardener Petrus Johannes start seeds for the garden.

Newly sprouted seeds – broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi.

On 3 April, CCF held a dedication event, naming this site the ‘Chewbaaka Memorial Garden’ in honour of CCF’s ambassador cheetah who passed away. With plans for water conservation practices and beekeeping in the works, CCF hopes to include the Chewbaaka Memorial Garden in farmer training programs in the future. During your next visit to CCF, ask to see what’s growing!

CCF’s Executive Director Dr. Laurie Marker, with some of her team, speaking at the dedication of “Chewbaaka Memorial Garden”

CCF Staff gardener Petrus Johannes with an abundant harvest.

The Plight of the Cheetah: Infographic

We're always looking for new ways to educate people about the plight of the cheetah in the wild.  We've added a new way to reach out -- here's our first infographic, with the assistance of the team at Viget Labs in Virginia (thanks!). We're also posting it to our Facebook page -- share liberally!

2013 Newspaper Cup – Otjiwarongo

The 2013 The Namibian Newspaper Cup was held in Otjiwarongo  the “Cheetah Capital of the World” over Easter weekend this year. In light of being selected as the site of this year’s under-20 regional soccer championship, Otjiwarongo decided to highlight their reputation for being the home to the world’s fastest animal by inviting the Cheetah Conservation Fund to be a part of this national tournament.

CCF set up a tent at the main entrance to the stadium which provided information about cheetahs and the conservation efforts CCF employs to help ensure the survival of the cheetah. In addition to educational services, the tent served as an arts and crafts center for children, and also offered cheetah face painting. The tent was very popular and at any given time throughout the four-day festival there were several children making cheetah ears and waiting in line to have their faces painted.

CCF also provided decorations for the field and two cheetah mascots. Three cheetah statues were on display on the field, and the mascots ran onto the field with the teams and had their pictures taken with the teams and the player of the match. This year’s winner was the host region - Otjozondjupa. The event was attended by thousands of fans. We were graced with the presence of Namibia’s Prime Minister Dr Hage Geongob and other cabinet ministers who attended the final event.  Despite the rainfall over the weekend, spectators cheered for their teams and players’ morale was as sharp as a hunting predator.  We are very grateful to the organizers of the tournament for allowing us to participate. They worked so hard to make such a wonderful event, and we were proud to be part of it.

Rainbow and Aurora

A blog about the newest resident non-releasable cheetahs at CCF, Rainbow and Aurora, courtesy of our Cheetah Keeper, Jenny Bartlett.

On the 8^th February 2013 CCF received a call from a farmer telling us they had a young cheetah cub that was extremely weak.  They had found her on the side of the road and she obviously had not eaten for a while as she was too weak to get up and run away. Luckily for the young cub, she was taken to the farm and given food and water before the farmer called CCF.

          

Naturally CCF rushed to the aid of the cub and arrived a few hours later. She was extremely thin so it did not take much to place her into a crate to transport her back to CCF. After thanking the farmer for calling and talking about how he can further help the wild cheetahs, the CCF staff were back on the road heading back to CCF where they could do a better check of the cub and give her more food.

Although weak, the young female was inquisitive and watched out the window as we drove.  About twenty minutes before reaching the CCF centre, three rainbows appeared overhead which looked beautiful and peaceful; it was decided she would be named Rainbow.

                     

After arriving at the centre, Rainbow needed constant care and attention.  Naturally in the wild, cheetah cubs would not be on their own at such a young age of roughly 3-4 months; they would always be with their mother or at least siblings, so the CCF staff had to be with her constantly for the initial few days.

Each day she would be fed small portions, which could be up to 8 meals a day.  As she was starved it was crucial to not overfeed her, but at the same time ensure she got enough food, as well as vitamins and minerals she desperately needed. Over the first few weeks Rainbow quickly put on weight and her fur and skin condition improved.

                 

Now that her general health was not in danger it was important that we now focused on her mental health as most young cubs coming in from such a traumatic start normally become very depressed.  The staff at CCF came up with a variety of play items that she could play with from balls to toys tied on the end of string.  This way CCF staff could move around and trigger her chase response.

Because cheetahs run at such top speeds while hunting, it is imperative that they learn how to chase and catch from a young age, which in the wild would be something they learned from watching their mother. It was not long before Rainbow started chasing the toys and seemingly enjoying it.   Playing did seem to tire her out quite quickly, but this was to be expected as she didn’t have as much energy as she should have for a cub at her age.

Sadly, there was one thing that CCF staff could not replace: contact between two cheetahs, which is why it was very mixed emotions when CCF received another call from a different farmer saying he had a young cheetah cub and asking would we come and get it.

This little female cub was caught by the farmer. He kept her for roughly two weeks before calling CCF. Dr Laurie Marker went to collect the cub, but sadly for the young cub, now named Aurora, she had been taken away from her mother and siblings and had to be brought back to CCF.

Aurora was a bit feistier than Rainbow when she arrived and was not in too bad of overall condition.  She was bloated from being fed too much and had her claws cut really short, but the main thing was that she seemed very frightened. After spending a night in our quarantine pen, Aurora was anesthetized and given a full health check to make sure she was healthy, remove any parasites, and give her relevant vaccinations without stressing her out. The next morning we decided it was time to introduce her to Rainbow, as the sooner the two cubs were together the better it would be for them.

The introduction could not have gone any better.  As soon as Rainbow heard Aurora chirp she went straight over to the fence line and chirped back.  At this time, Aurora almost came out of her crate, which she had not done since we received her two days earlier. Eventually both cats met up at the fence line dividing them and touched noses. We decided that we should open the gate and see how they did together, as the keeper moved towards the fence line, Aurora ran back to her crate, however this was not a problem for Rainbow as she strolled right in and sat down next to Aurora.  After a few minutes the staff witnessed Rainbow grooming Aurora and they have been together ever since

                      

Every day they are getting more confident and seem happy together.  They groom each other after every meal and are always curled up beside one another.  We are very sad that the two of them have had such a bad start, but at least now they can develop with one another.