My identify is Andie and I’m a senior cat ambassador coach on the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Backyard. I’ve been working with cheetahs for over 5 years, and whereas with the ability to practice cheetahs and lift them to turn into ambassadors is certainly one of many highlights of my job, one in all my favourite elements of my profession is with the ability to educate folks about conservation, significantly conservation of the African cheetah. That’s a part of the explanation why I wished to develop my conservation information and influence by doing a grasp’s program by Miami College. I’m at the moment finding out biology by their Mission Dragonfly International Discipline Students program and had the chance this summer time to journey to Namibia for this system. I’ve at all times wished to go to Namibia for a lot of causes, however the principle cause was to go to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). The Cincinnati Zoo has partnered with CCF for years to ship college students there to study firsthand concerning the many various conservation efforts they’ve in place. And Cincinnati Zoo performed a key half in serving to to help CCF over time as effectively. Since at this time is worldwide cheetah day, I wished to take this chance to share a little bit of my expertise on the Cheetah Conservation Fund this summer time.
I spent 10 days in Namibia studying all concerning the nice conservation work that’s taking place to assist save cheetahs there. Among the work that resonated essentially the most with me was truly what they’re doing with canine. Right here in Cincinnati, we have now working canine with our cheetahs in a a lot completely different means. I wrote a unique weblog all about our cheetah companion canine right here.
In Namibia, there are two completely different packages the place canine are serving to to save lots of the cheetah. The primary one is the scat detection canine program. Canine are skilled to determine cheetah scat with their unbelievable sense of odor. That scat is collected and introduced again to CCFs unbelievable genetics lab. The geneticists are capable of get a ton of perception into the cheetah inhabitants by extracting info from the scat like DNA and are then capable of have a greater concept of what the cheetah inhabitants appears to be like like in areas all throughout the nation. Once I was there, we bought to see two of the scat detection canine do a coaching demonstration for us. It was so cool to see how effectively skilled these canine had been, but additionally how excited they had been to take part and efficiently do their job. The canine will exit with their coach within the discipline for hours and may discover cheetah scat that might be subsequent to unattainable for the human eye to identify. By having these canine, CCF is ready to have such a bigger pattern dimension of information and are contributing to the conservation of the cheetah in a really distinctive means.
One of many different highlights of my time there was getting to fulfill the livestock guarding canine! These Anatolian Shepherds play an enormous position in mitigating human-wildlife battle. They’re positioned at farms round Namibia to guard farmers’ livestock from predators like cheetahs. That means farmers don’t have to hurt the cheetahs or different predators on their land. CCF has a mannequin farm, the place farmers can come study to farm with these canine and CCF additionally breeds the canine to offer to farmers. They’ve had over 715 canine positioned on farms. Because the program has begun the success charge of those canine has resulted in a 80-100% discount in losses of livestock to predators! I liked lastly getting to fulfill these lovely big pups and seeing them in motion.
One other spotlight of the journey for me was the truth that the property that CCF is on is totally lovely. It’s a part of the Waterburg conservancy. Conservancies in Namibia are run by completely different landowners who’re dedicated to serving to to save lots of wildlife. Since CCF is actively part of this conservancy, the time we had been there we had been surrounded by pure magnificence and the potential of seeing all kinds of wildlife. The entire time I used to be at CCF we had been instructed there have been two wild cheetahs roaming across the property. All week we had seen indicators of them, scat and tracks. One morning I bought up early and noticed them within the distance down one of many roads because the solar was arising, which to me was extremely magical, however little did I do know on my final night time I might be the one to identify them on our final sport drive. Over 5 years of taking a look at cheetahs laying down day-after-day in Ohio lastly paid off, we had been zooming previous them and I acknowledged their silhouettes on the bottom. I used to be so excited I barely had time to get out my digicam, however I did handle to get a couple of pictures of the boys as they made their means towards the attractive Waterburg cliffside over sundown.
Since returning to Cincinnati, these two cheetahs have additionally made a journey of their very own. They’re now dwelling in India. Cheetahs have been extinct in India for over 70 years till two months in the past once they had been reintroduced with cheetahs that got here from Namibia. Two of the cheetahs that made the trek had been the wild boys that I had the pleasure to see whereas I used to be on the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Simply earlier than penning this I came upon that they’ve achieved their first profitable hunt, making that the primary cheetah hunt in India in over 70 years! Wild that I bought to see them in Namibia and now they’re on a whole completely different continent making historical past.
I may go on endlessly about my unbelievable time at CCF and their efforts to assist save the cheetah, however wished to share a couple of private highlights from having the chance to be there myself. If you wish to study extra about CCF and the good work that they’re doing, head to internationalcheetahday.com and assist unfold the phrase about cheetah conservation by #savethecheetah