Introduction to the Cheetah and it's Plight.Nap time for this cheetah
Being the fastest land animal, able to run upwards of 60/mph, the Cheetah has a rightful claim to fame. Sadly this claim to fame is different depending on the part of the world you are living in. In the United States the Cheetah is viewed as a majestic animal and is highly revered, but to African farmers these beautiful creatures are considered pests and a danger to their livestock. They are also viewed as a payday to some and a poached because of it. There used to be hundreds of thousands of Cheetahs at the start of the 20th century and they ranged from Africa all the way into India, but thanks to hunting, deterioration of their habitats, decrease in food stocks, and disease these beautiful creatures are on the edge of extinction. Shamefully the Indian Cheetah has already reached that point, it has been extinct since the 1940's and there are fewer than 100 hundred left in Iran (their last Asian stronghold). In Africa the estimates of the Cheetah's population range from as high as 25,000 to as low as 5,000. There are around 1000 Cheetahs in captivity around the world and 300 hundred of those are within the United States. If we do not take the steps to protect this majestic and magnificent animal it may not see the next century, and what a loss that would be.
Cheetah Outreach, a Tourism Destination Used to Progress Cheetah Conservation.Founded in 1997, Cheetah Outreach is a non-profit community-based and education program. It was founded in order to raise awareness to the plight that the cheetah faces and campaigns for their survival. Located in Paardevlei, Somerset West, South Africa uses tourism to fund their campaigns and educate the public about the cheetah. While the majority of the funding comes from sponsors, for about the equivalent of us$20 you are guided around the park and are given the opportunity to pet a live cheetah and take photos with them. The organization is dedicated to the education of all people about the majestic cheetah and the local fauna of South Africa. Traveling with an "ambassador" cheetah the organization visits many schools and educational facilities to present workshops and presentations to help further the awareness of the cheetah and local fauna That is just one example of the many actions Cheetah Outreach does in order to promote awareness and conservation. The program also has a section where they raise and place Anatolian Shepherds with local farmers to help protect live stock in a non-lethal way to the cheetah.
The organization raises cheetah cubs to be ambassadors to the public about this majestic species. http://www.cheetah.co.za/default.html Cheetah Outreach excellently illustrates the cornerstones for fair trade and responsible tourism
What Is The Big Picture and What Can We Do to Help?The CCF Livestock Guard Dog Program has great success in helping to protect
Cheetahs
Cheetahs are the fastest animal to live on the land but yet they are on verge of extinction. Once dominating the lands all the way from Africa to India in the estimated numbers of over a 100,000 at the turn of the century, these majestic creatures are about to disappear forever. There are estimated to only be about 10,000 cheetah's today ranging mainly in Africa with less than a hundred in Iran. There are many threats to these exotic creatures continued existence, as well as a few organizations that are making efforts to educate people on the Cheetahs' plight and to protect the animals.
Being such a specialized creature the cheetah is well adapted to a certain type of environment, plains and open areas where running at high speeds is possible. With the encroachment of humans into their natural territory not only are cheetahs losing hunting grounds cheetahs are also increasingly having interactions with those humans pressing into the wild lands, mainly with their livestock. As such the Cheetah are seen by many farmers as pests and thus are hunted and shot. Not only are Cheetahs hunted by farmers ignorant to the cats' plight they are hunted by poachers looking for a pay day. In parts of the world cheetah parts are thought to have healing properties or used as high society decoration and as such fetch a high price on the black market. Beyond these reasons for their plight the cheetahs' territory is becoming overburdened with bushes, which is decreasing the number of potential grass grazing prey and are inhibiting the natural hunting techniques of the cheetah, thus making it harder for the cheetah to catch their prey. The plains are becoming over burden with bushes due to natural fires being controlled and put out by humans. In the past these fires would have come through and cleared the brush but now the brush grows untamed and clogs the land making it difficult for the cheetah to run at high speeds. Despite all these odds fighting against the survival the this great cat species there are forces fighting back to help this majestic creature. Organizations like the Cheetah Conservation Fund(CCF) are making large strides in multiple areas to combat the forces bring the cheetah to the edge of extinction. The CCF not only combats the hunting of the cheetah by farmers, but they are also fighting the brush overgrowth inhibiting the cheetah from efficiently hunting. To help the Cheetahs with the threat from farmers CCF has been using to two separate but connected efforts. One of the ways they are combating this particular threat is through the education of the local communities and farmers on the cheetah and it's dire predicament. CCF has had great success with this effort. The Second way they are combating this threat is through their Livestock Guarding Dog Program. What they have been doing is raising and training Anatolian Shepherds and Kangals as a livestock guard dogs and then placing them with farmers in area where cheetahs call home. Not only does this decrease the number of livestock lost to cheetahs, and as a result the number of cheetahs being shot, it also greatly increases the relationships between the farmers and CCF. This allows CCF to have more influence over the farmers and their actions concerning cheetahs. CCF does not stop there though, they have also created a way to clear the overgrown brush and create a usable product that can be sold to help sustain the foundation and their efforts to protect and hopefully save the cheetah. What they are doing is they are cutting and gathering the overgrowing bushes in environmentally conscious ways and creating wood fuel briquettes from them, which they call Bushblok. These can be used in a vast array of useful ways, like heating a home, building a camp fire, or in industrial applications. As a result of implementing this business strategy not only has CCF created a source of revenue to help fund the organization but they have also helped clear grasslands for the cheetahs and the grazers they hunt. While CCF is able to push the cause to save the cheetah to new bounds there are other organizations helping in this fight as well. So at this point your probably saying to yourself "ok, so Cheetahs are really cool and sadly they are in danger. There are organizations and people working to protect the cheetah, but what can I do personally?" As the majority of people who read this will live far from were the cheetahs roam there are only a few things you can do. The obvious one would be to donate to one of the many organizations like the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Another option for those with an adventurous spirit would be to engage in "voluntourism" and physically go to one of these organizations to give your time and manpower to the cheetah's cause. For those of you that do not like to blindly give, you can purchase items, like the BushBlok, from the organizations and as such help fund their enterprise sectors, which in turn will help those organizations to become self-sustaining. You can also share information via social media, hard media, and through word of mouth on the cheetah's plight with those you know in an effort to spread the knowledge of this terrible atrocity that will happen if there is nothing done. If there is no move to action we will have to say goodbye to the magnificent species of cat that is so unique. Let us help the Cheetah and make sure we never have to say these words "goodbye Cheetah we are sorry that our species was the one to bring about your end." Following is a list and links to some of the organizations that are fighting to save the Cheetah Cheetah Conservation Fundhttp://www.cheetah.org/ Cheetah Conservation Botswana http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/project.php Western Cape Cheetah Conservation http://www.inverdoorn.com/big-5-safari/western-cape-cheetah-conservation Cheetah Conservation Compendium http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/20_cc-compendium/home/index_en.htm Cheetah and African Wild Dog http://www.cheetahandwilddog.org/ Enkosini Eco Experience http://www.enkosini.org/NamibiaWildlifeSanctuary.htm Large Carnivore Initiative West & Central Africa http://www.largecarnivoresafrica.com/cheetah/ Wildlife Conservation Society http://www.wcs.org/saving-wildlife/big-cats/cheetah.aspx?gclid=CKWEl8K417YCFSNyQgodP28A3g Smithsonian National Zoological Parkhttp://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/endangeredspecies/cheetah/default.cfm |
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