Cheetah
We had arrived late at night at Elandsvreugde, a 15,000 hectare working farm and the headquarters for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), so we didn't have a clue about our surroundings until the morning. Our first day got off to a fantastic start with us waking up in the middle of the African bush.
There were six of us in total on the team and we stayed in pairs in traditional African style thatched huts known as rondavels. We were also joined in our room by a family of four geckos!
On day one Earthwatch coordinator Anne-Marie Stewart gave us an introductory talk about what was in store for us over the two weeks. The Cheetah Conservation Fund is involved in a number of different research programmes, including biological research, ecosystem research and investigating human wildlife conflict, which we were able to experience at first hand throughout the project.
Our first task on the expedition was to exercise the three ‘Hogwarts' cheetahs - Harry, Ron and Hermione. To keep the cheetahs healthy, the Cheetah Conservation Fund exercises the non-releasable cheetahs using an electronic lure with a piece of red rag tied to it to tempt the cheetahs. Once the cheetahs have caught the rag they are encouraged, using a piece of meat, to drop it. This was our first of many close-up encounters with the cheetah and it was great to see them do what they do best - running at speeds of up to 45mph (not quite matching the 70mph they can reach in the wild, but still breathtaking to watch).
On our first evening the centre received a call from a farmer saying he had trapped a wild cheetah on his farm (it has taken a lot of work on the part of CCF to persuade farmers to build traps to catch the cheetahs and remove them from their farms, rather than kill them). The following morning we were assigned to collect the cheetah from the farm, approximately an hour's drive away. When we arrived the cheetah looked quite stressed. My own adrenalin was pumping too, being so close to a wild cheetah. Our job was to box the cheetah and then transport it back to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. While we were at the farm we spent a little time with the farmer explaining the importance of protecting the cheetahs and their habitat.
Back at base, we joined in a two hour session in the clinic where we helped to take measurements and biomedical samples from the cheetah. These contribute towards an extensive database which has been developed to investigate the overall health and genetic make-up of the Namibian cheetah population. The cheetah was fit and healthy to be released back into the wild so it was left to recover overnight before being released the following morning by the Earthwatch team.
Game counts
As part of the ecosystem research, the Cheetah Conservation Fund carries out a number of game counts to monitor habitat use by game species to better understand the ecosystem used by the cheetah. One of the highlights of our experience was to take part in a 12 hour game count in the Bellebeno Game Reserve. We were dropped off at a hide at 6am with a packed lunch and radio. Our job was to sit and record everything we saw at a waterhole, less than 25m away. Our first encounter was a group of four eland - the biggest of the antelope species in Namibia. These were followed by a number of other species including giraffe, warthog, oryx, kudu, and a herd of Burchell's zebra. Earthwatch volunteer Pat, from Australia, aptly described it as having our own private film studio, in the midst of a wildlife documentary, viewed through our personal, three metre wide cinemascope plasma screen.
As well as the 12 hour game count, we also carried out six other late afternoon and evening game counts. These generally took around two hours and involved driving round a set circuit and recording everything we saw, including the species and number of adults or sub adults. It must have been beginners' luck as on our first one we saw aardwolf, bat-eared foxes and an aardvark - apparently quite rare to see. This was in addition to all of the other species we saw including jackal, and a number of different antelopes (oryx, red hartebeast, steinbock and springbock); and not forgetting the warthogs which were quite ugly but comical!
Also as part of the ecosystem research the Cheetah Conservation Fund set up a number of fixed point camera traps around trees known to be used by male cheetahs to mark their territory. A number of cheetahs have been radio tagged and the cameras were linked to sensors which pick up any movement, enabling us to monitor the wild cheetah populations.
Human-wildlife conflict
Ninety per cent of the cheetahs in Namibia are found on farmland, rather than in national parks, so another important part of the CCF research is to investigate human and wildlife conflict. CCF is helping to develop farming techniques that are beneficial to both cheetahs and farmers. At the Cheetah Conservation Fund Centre a model farm, using non-lethal livestock management and predator control techniques, has been established. This includes using Anatolian shepherd dogs as guard dogs for goats. The Cheetah Conservation Fund breeds these dogs and places them on Namibian farms as part of its conservation programme. Part of the Earthwatch volunteers' role was to clean out the pens where the goats and dogs are kept at night.
Education is a key element to the work of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and while we were there a training course for farmers took place. Around 20 Namibian farmers were given a week's training on topics such as general livestock practices, veterinary issues, climate change, and how to reduce livestock losses from predators. Interested volunteers could sit in on the sessions.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund works with farmers, encouraging them to get in touch if they catch wild cheetahs. Unfortunately, many captured cheetahs are cubs, caught without a mother, and cannot be released back into the wild. The Cheetah Conservation Fund currently cares for 53 orphaned and injured cheetahs. Another of our main roles throughout the two weeks was to help to feed these animals.
Our feeding and cleaning duties were carried out in the morning, leaving the afternoon for less physical work. The project staff would try to find duties which fitted in with individuals' backgrounds and skills. Tasks included helping to make a sign, painting, data entry and doing an inventory for the clinic. We all took turns helping out at the education centre. We were also lucky to have the chance to meet the two youngest cheetahs that were only 13 weeks old. They were brought to the centre after losing their mother and unfortunately will not be released into the wild as they are too young to learn how to fend for themselves. The volunteers all had a chance to feed them and help with cub care.
Relaxation
Dinner was usually at 6pm, after which there was a chance to relax at the dining area or in the common room. We had a couple of days off in the middle of the project and the team decided to go to Etosha National Park. This was about two hours drive and so a one-night stay in a tented safari camp was arranged for us. We got up bright and early to catch the sunrise and drive around the park during the best part of the day for seeing wildlife, and we were lucky to see a group of eight lions. Other highlights of the day included giraffe and elephant sightings. On our last day of the project we were taken to a hide to enjoy the sunset over the Waterberg Plateau.
- Dr. Laurie Marker founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund in 1990. Earthwatch has supported the project since 1996.
- Find out more about the Earthwatch expedition Cheetah.