Cheetah Conservation Fund

Description

Cheetah Conservation Fund, known as CCF, is a research and education organization dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild.

It was founded in Namibia in 1990 by conservation biologist Laurie Marker, and its Research and Education Centre sits near Otjiwarongo, home to the world’s largest and healthiest wild cheetah population. CCF works internationally, with fundraising affiliates in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and field programs extending to countries such as Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Algeria, Iran, and Somaliland.

CCF pursues a holistic conservation strategy covering the cheetah and the wider ecosystem, combining scientific research on cheetah biology, genetics, ecology, and human-wildlife conflict with environmental education for farmers, teachers, children, and scientists. It develops predator-friendly farming methods, including a livestock guarding dog program, and researches habitat restoration, such as converting encroaching bush into a firelog product.

The organization also fights the illegal wildlife trade, working with governments and NGOs in the Horn of Africa to reduce the capture and sale of cheetah cubs, and it runs a rescue and conservation centre in Somaliland for cubs recovered from that trade. It maintains a genome resource bank and uses assisted reproduction techniques to counter inbreeding in captive cheetah populations.