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Over the past century, Cheetah populations have declined by over 90% with major causes including habitat loss and persecution by farmers, who perceive them as a threat to their livestock. With less than 10,000 left in the world, Botswana hosts one of the largest populations of cheetahs, estimated at approximately 2000 individuals (20%). Due to Botswana’s central location in southern Africa, this population is also crucial to facilitate connectivity between other remaining populations. While conservation reserves provide a refuge for some carnivore species, cheetahs are outcompeted by lions, leopards and wild dogs, and their wide-ranging nature means that they require large areas to survive. As a result, most of Botswana’s cheetahs live in farmland regions, and protected areas alone cannot be relied upon to maintain populations of these magnificent cats. As part of a multifaceted approach to help reverse this decline, concerted efforts are now underway to help support and educate farmers in Botswana on how they can successfully and peacefully share the land with cheetahs. Strategies include community outreach meetings with local farmers affected by predator conflict, where they can learn about new livestock management practices (such as livestock guard dogs) and other non-lethal methods of predator control which can allow them to live in harmony with cheetahs. The meeting captured here took place in the Kalahari Desert – several dusty and bumpy hours drive south of Ghanzi, Botswana. It is being run by members of Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, and here we see Max, a member of CCB, passionately talking about how farmers and cheetahs can successfully live together. Digital adjustments included, exposure, tone and contrast, presence, burning, dodging, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, minor sensor dust cleaning.
Cheetahs are on the brink of extinction, with around 7100 individuals left in the world. Habitat loss, illegal trade, and persecution by humans are the biggest threats to their existence. Despite worldwide population decline, Botswana holds a stable population of about 1,700 wild cheetahs. Set up in 2003 as a local, non-profit conservation organization, Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) aims to conserve the country’s cheetah populations by working with rural farming communities that may be affected by human-cheetah conflict. Using an integrated approach of science, community support, and awareness-raising, CCB facilitates the coexistence of cheetahs and farming communities in Botswana. Our approach aims to bridge the knowledge gap about carnivores and their importance in a healthy, balanced ecosystem and helps communities find ways in which to coexist with carnivores while reducing threats to livestock. CCB partners with rural farming communities, the government, and other critical stakeholders to foster an acceptance of carnivores and promote a sense of value in national wildlife resources. Our activities promote the best practices in land management, effective livestock husbandry, range management, and non-lethal carnivore control techniques in order to minimize livestock depredations.
Information derived from CCB’s research is crucial in combating conflict, as it gives us a better understanding of the cheetahs and other carnivores and also allows the tailoring of and more effective implementation of conservation strategies. The information derived from our research is distributed to the Government of Botswana, the farming communities, and the general public in order to influence appropriate actions to promote coexistence. This knowledge helps empower local communities to take control of their farming practices, bringing adaptive livestock husbandry and management techniques to farmers of all types, from subsistence to commercial level, so that farmers have the tools to help them minimize conflict with cheetahs and other carnivores. CCB has been able to help communities living with wildlife through their farmers’ workshops and support visits, a rapid response unit to attend to conflict calls, a livestock guarding dog network and farmers’ networks, open dialogues with farmers at agricultural shows around the country and community activities such as school presentations, youth bush camps and student mentorship programmes. Because of this holistic approach, CCB’s goal is not only to protect the cheetahs of Botswana but also to create a place where cheetahs and people can live side by side where neither is adversely affected.
In the 15 years since its inception, CCB has engaged with more than 7,500 farmers across the country, with over 235 farm visits to help farmers who are particularly vulnerable to losing livestock to carnivores. These visits were complemented by 141 farmers workshops all over the country with informative lectures on farm management, maximizing grazing and herd health, as well as how to minimise losses to carnivores. Since 2003, over 100 livestock guarding dogs have been placed on farms suffering from conflict, and almost 400 guarding dogs have been sterilised to improve performance and reduce disease.
When farmers begin to understand that carnivores are not a threat to their livestock, they are less likely to kill carnivores. It is through this work that CCB has been able to not only protect the cheetah populations of Botswana but also help communities minimize the damage that can be caused by carnivores. After 15 years of fieldwork in Botswana, CCB’s programs are showing significant progress within rural communities. On top of that, Botswana’s cheetah population has remained stable while the world’s population has crumbled by half since the year 2000. CCB’s newly developed five-year strategic plan will see the organisation focusing more on critical areas for cheetah conservation and set the target of making a real difference in the lives of cheetahs and the farming communities that live alongside them.
For more information about CCB and their services, contact CCB at + 267 350 0613, email us at info@
cheetahconservationbotswana.org or visit the website at www.cheetahconservationbotswana.org
WORDS: CHEETAH CONSERVATION BOTSWANA
PICTURE: DOUG GIMESY AND LEANNE VAN DER WEYDE
