Cheetah Chewbaaka has house call by local Veterinarian

On Friday 16 November, one of CCF's most important resident cheetahs, Chewbaaka, had a special house call by Otjiwarongo veterinarian for an infected eye. For the last couple of weeks, the famous ambassador cheetah was observed to have a sensitive and weepy eye. The eye became worse, showing signs of broken vessels in the retina and haziness. The local veterinarian, Dr. Axel Hartman, from the Otjiwarongo Veterinary Clinic was contacted and arrangements set to more closely observe the cause of the problem. Chewbaaka, CCF's 12 year old ambassador cheetah, was orphaned when he was 3 weeks old and has been at CCF ever since. As the star of many TV documentaries, he was anesthetised and treated in the CCF clinic where samples were taken for further analysis.

Cheetah Updates

We are about to send out the latest cheetah updates to our sponsors within the nexyt couple of days. If you have not received an update this year, it could be because we do not have your e-mail address. Please send your e-mail address to us to info(at)cheetah.org. No updates are sent by mail in an effort to help conserve the environment, and to direct more of your kind donations to our programs to save the wild cheetah.

With many thanks,
Patricia - Cheetah Conservation Fund

More Farmers Learning to Live with Cheetahs.

Approximately 95% of the cheetah population in Namibia resides on farmlands in the north-central region of the country, with only small populations of cheetah found in the southern part. This causes human wildlife conflict as farmers are worried about predators taking livestock. As part of our conservation and education programs we offer farmer training programs that focus on livestock and predator management. With the help of sponsors we are able to offer these courses which include training, food, and shelter to the farmers. Their only responsibility is transport to CCF. We have had a very positive response and continue to fill courses. Starting with two basic courses we have now added many based on the needs of farmers. Successful farms are important for the conservation of the cheetah and other predators. Some of the courses offered include Integrated Livestock and Predator Management, Practical Farming Course, Livestock Marketing and Management, Financial Farm Management, Sustainable Utilisation of Game on Commercial Farmland, Small Stock Management, and Introduction to Sustainable Livestock Farming for Learners Grade 9 - 12.

Last week we had 28 farm workers on site participating in the Practical Farming Course which is designed for the farm workers. This course focuses less on management and more on hands on day to day issues. The course starts with the farm ecosystem and how their actions affect the system as a whole. Next they are taught herd health including what to look for in terms of illness, what medications they should have on hand and how to properly dispense them, and problems and solutions that may arise during birthing. On the photo below, the group learns vaccinations. Proper nutrition is also taught such as what times of the year different supplements may be needed. The participants also learn more about the use and training of livestock guarding dogs as they are the ones interacting with these dogs on a daily basis. To teach them more about the different predators on the farms we set up kill id sites which include a carcass, tracks and other signs that will help them determine which predator is causing the problem. Through this hand on exercise they learn ways to deal with their individual problems and often uncover misconceptions about the different predators.

We look forward to the next year of courses and are always grateful for the help from our sponsors. Keeping the cost off the farmers is very important for the success of the courses.

New Collared Cheetah!

We have now collared cat number four and are currently downloading data from the first three. From these collars we hope to learn the habitat type the cats are using and also their daily movements and use of playtrees. We will also be comparing range size to a 10-year study already conducted at CCF to determine how prey and vegetation changes may have affected this. The pictures below show the collar which weighs 350 grams, and a GMS map showing the movement of one cat through neighbouring farms.

New puppies!

Two days ago one our top guarding dogs, Tylee, gave birth to nine puppies. Sadly one didn’t make it leaving us with five males and three females. This is the third litter for Tylee as she continues to pass on her remarkable guarding dog genes. Her daughter Uschi is expecting her second litter due at the end of the month. Both litters are fathered by Amos, our breeding male. These dogs will be placed with farmers around Namibia that have applied for a dog to help protect their small stock herds. Since 1994 we have placed over 250 dogs around Namibia.

Cheetahs... and Leopard!!!

Over the last couple weeks we have collared 3 wild cheetahs from different range areas on our farms and are currently collecting data on their movements. This is CCF’s first time using GMS collars and will allow for a much more detailed data collection. All three are cheetahs that we have seen on this year’s camera census. One is a tailless male that we have seen in the previous year’s census, and he appears to be doing quite well despite the lack of a tail.

Today we inadvertently caught a Leopard in one of the cage traps. He was a large male weighing in at 71kg! This was some unexpected excitement as we drove up to the check the trap. Our team did a medical workup in the field in order to collect biological samples and take measurements (see photo at left). We believe he is a male found on the cameras from the neighbouring farm. This gave us a great opportunity to learn more about the other predators on our farms. With one collar left we await the final cheetah and so check the cages throughout the day.

Update on Little C from Namibia

The cheetah cub we call Little C is already trying to climb trees, and spends time with Kanini (through the fence), althought she shows some displeasure when he tries to swat at her. The cub has also been spending time with Chewbaaka (also through the fence). They seem to like each other.

New Cub at CCF - From Laurie Marker

We have a new cheetah cub at CCF. Our new little guy (no name yet – working name is Little C) is doing well and has many adoring fans. I was away again for several days and he seemed to really miss me. I arrived home now 2 days ago and have gotten him playing and he is exploring his outside area. The other cats are now all settled in their new enclosure and like all the space. The clinic is bustling again, as we have started our annual reproductive study. Its quite exciting, one of the females produced 33 eggs – the highest take so far!

Cheetahs, Game Count and Gala!

We are just catching our breath after CCF's Celebration of Speed and Elegance Gala and are all going full speed again - we have cheetah workups happening and our annual Full-Moon Waterhole count. So, on we go.

All the cheetahs are doing well - the Hogwart's trio are doing great - they now run in the Girls' area and we are just finishing up a new 26-acrea area. We will be moving our 2007 orphans, 12, into this area - too many cheetahs! And, Kanini is doing great.

Cheetas, students, census, etc.

We have been really busy during the last part of June! We went with MET (the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism) to confiscate 9 cheetahs – we were able to release 8 of them back into the wild and the farmer got a small fine – but MET has their eyes on him. Besides that – all our students are working on various projects and much progress is being made in a variety of areas of research. Our camera traps are set out and Matti and Fabiano are busy with spoor tracking and checking cameras daily – we are preparing for our yearly conservancy waterhole count and will also conduct strip counts. Ah, the cheetah keeps us busy.

With cheetah purrs to all,
Laurie