Friends of Conservation

Do you fly abroad? Help to offset the effects of this - click here to learn how. Image courtesy: Karen Livescu

Friends of Conservation
Kensington Charity Centre
Charles House
375 Kensington High St
London W14 8QH
Tel: 020 7603 5024
Email: focinfo@aol.com

Namibia's farmlands are now home to 70% of the country's wildlife. As a result of CCF’s research, the CCF has formulated strategies for managing the conflict between cheetahs and farmers. CCF's work focuses on livestock farming communities in order to develop ways to reduce conflict with the prey species. CCF work with communities and farmers to show how they can coexist with cheetah populations to the benefit of both, thereby ensuring the survival of the cheetah populations on farmlands. In order to reduce predator farmer conflict, the CCF has introduced and promoted various livestock management techniques such as calving kraals, calving seasons, guarding dogs, secure fencing and involving herders. By giving farmers alternatives and assistance in regulating the impact of predators on livestock, farmers are more willing to release captured cheetahs because the adopted practices reduce instances of predator conflict and as a result help protect both their livestock and the cheetah.
The more involved Laurie Marker became with the cheetah, the more she realised that there must be ways of keeping cheetah away from stock. The farmers were either shooting or trapping cheetah and even those cats caught in live box traps tended to suffer injuries in their attempts to escape. Laurie realised that rescuing them fixing them up and releasing them was no solution. It was then that she came across the concept of guarding dogs, which have kept the flocks of Europe and the Middle East safe from marauding wolves and bears for millennia. She selected the Anatolian mountain dogs, a Turkish breed able to withstand the rigours of the Namibian climate. Laurie breeds these mountain dogs and then places them in flocks living in communal lands.
These animals are placed with their host flock at 8 weeks old and quickly become integrated, apparently seeing themselves as a sheep or goat. Consequently, an threat to the flock causes these dogs to raise the alarm – generally the deep throated barking is sufficient to frighten off cheetah as well as jackal, cape hunting dogs and even leopard, but prolonged noise will rouse the flock owners who will come to the aid of the dog if necessary. This programme continues to grow, with 119 Anatolian Shepherd dogs currently working with livestock on both communal and commercial farm land. This method of non-lethal predator control is showing significant rewards. The numbers of animals taken by cheetah are falling - the farmer’s livelihood is protected whilst conserving the cheetah. The CCF encourages farmers, teachers and the public to conserve Namibia’s rich biodiversity and highlights the role of the cheetah and other predators in healthy ecosystems. In 2003, over 9,000 people attended CCF educational programmes. In 1993, the CCF began working with the Ministry of Education and their Teacher Training Colleges to develop a Teacher’s Resource Guide on conservation education and cheetah ecology which was published in 1994. In that year, CCF also began conducting school assembly programs following which schools visited the CCF to get involved in their work there and learn about environmental issues. The CCF has built close relationships with schools, teachers and their students, in recognition that the plight of the cheetah will, in the future, rest in the hands of today’s children. In 2003, the CCF staff visited nearly 20,000 students at schools throughout Namibia.