The Cheetah Outreach Trust
Cheetah Outreach founded the Cheetah Outreach Trust in 2000 (IT/3229 2000) which was registered as a non-profit organization (NPO 013-501) in 2005. The main objective of the Cheetah Outreach Trust is to engage in or promote nature conservation and to develop and implement long term multi-disciplinary educational and conservation efforts for the survival of the free ranging cheetah and its ecosystem in remaining habitats in Southern Africa.
Today, there are only an estimated 6500 cheetahs left in the wild.
The primary reason for the cheetah’s decline is shrinking range due to habitat loss throughout Africa. Drastic increases in human population and proliferation of domestic animals has led to loss of habitat and prey, and increasing conflict with man There are about 1,326 cheetahs in South Africa, including 412 in Kruger NP, 80 in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, 334 in small fenced parks and private reserves, and about 500 free ranging cheetahs on farmlands in the northern part of the country.
Caption: The cheetah is restricted to just 9% of its historic range and survives in just 33 populations, most of which number less than 100 individuals.
The Cheetah Outreach Trust understands the complexity and issues involving cheetah conservation. They are proud of their continuing efforts over the past 20 years to protect the South African cheetah. Their livestock guarding dog field staff work with land owners in cheetah range areas to find ways of mitigating human-wildlife conflict. Our education staff work with local schools to teach a conservation ethic to young children. Visitors to our facility are provided with a comprehensive talk on conservation and our efforts.
Caption: There are about 1,326 cheetahs in South Africa, including 412 in Kruger NP, 80 in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, 334 metapopulation in fenced parks and private reserves, and about 500 on farmland .
The Cheetah Outreach Trust’s efforts include:
1. Human-Predator conflict. The Livestock Guarding Dog Program has placed 387 dogs on South African farms since 2005 to provide a non-lethal means of predator control resulting in about 600,000 hectares of cheetah/predator safe areas. Currently 137 dogs are at work. The Trust participates in Farmer and Wildlife forums in order to better understand conservation issues and provide assistance.
2.Research: Their research projects have included cheetah health, human-wildlife conflict and conservation education. They have produced publications and technical reports for the international audience. The Trust plans to do a first of its kind census in cheetah range, focused on areas outside of protected areas.
Cheetah Outreach Trust Livestock Guarding Dog Program
Because a majority of cheetahs in southern Africa live outside protected areas on farmland, it is essential for the survival of the species to find non-lethal methods of protecting livestock from predators in order to reduce conflict between farmers and cheetahs.
One method is through the use of livestock guarding dogs. As a result of the success of Cheetah Conservation Fund’s livestock guarding dog programme in Namibia, Cheetah Outreach started a similar project in 2005 to introduce the Anatolian shepherd to serve farmers in South Africa.
A Turkish breed, the Anatolian shepherd was originally bred to protect livestock from bears and wolves. Given to farmers at 6 to 8 weeks of age, the dogs are raised exclusively with the flock or herd, instinctively protecting them from a variety of predators including cheetah. By deterring predators, this important working relationship removes the need for farmers to trap, shoot and poison this endangered cat.
These livestock guarding dogs have been placed on South African farms, mostly in cheetah range in Limpopo and North West Provinces but also in other provinces to protect sheep and goats from smaller predators such as caracal and black-backed jackals, reducing livestock losses from 97 to 100%.
Initially dogs were introduced to guard sheep and goats but for the first time in Southern Africa, Anatolians are guarding cattle and exotic game such as springbok, sable and nyala.
Cheetah Outreach Trust provides each dog to the farmer for free and pays for all food and medical expenses for the first year until the dog is signed over to the farmer.
The following examples illustrate how dedicated this breed is to protecting its livestock:
- Beska was in a fight with a caracal or brown hyena and was seriously wounded, but still brought his herd home safely without any losses.
- Crickey was attacked by a leopard when he was only 7 months old, and had serious wounds, but none of his herd was lost. When returning from the vet, he was kept in the farm house to recover, but “broke out” the first night and walked 14 km back to his herd.
Due to the success of the Anatolian Shepherd Livestock Guarding Dog Programme in South Africa, in 2009 the Cheetah Outreach Trust took on the challenge of breeding the Anatolian for placement on South African farms. In 2013 Cheetah Outreach Trust established a formal partnership with another NGO called Green Dogs Conservation in Limpopo Province, close to Alldays. Rox Brummer, who is director of Green Dogs Conservation, has been a close ally of Cheetah Outreach and has provided excellent litters of Anatolian livestock guarding dogs in the past. Green Dogs Conservation is responsible for the care and breeding of the Cheetah Outreach dogs as well as the raising of the puppies until they are placed as livestock guarding dogs.
Support the Livestock Guarding Dog Program
