Gordon Buchanan presents Cheetah Family and Me on BBC2, Tuesday 5 January and Wednesday 6 January 2021 at 9pm.

Twenty years ago, 100,000 cheetahs lived in Africa, give or take a cheetah or two.

There now barely 7,000 cheetahs in Africa

Gordon visits cheetahs in the Kalamari.  He follows mum Savannah and her four cubs in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, and mum Chili and her five kittens.  Chili and her offspring live in the Great Karoo Wilderness. And the two episodes show us the dangers these animals face.

Most wild cheetahs live outside protected areas and so they come into conflict with the people they share the land with.   The cheetah is the most endangered big cat in Africa.

To help and spread the word, visit these charities working to help cheetahs:

Cheetah conservation charities

The Cheetah Conservation Fund UK undertakes innovative conservation methods, which take the needs of both cheetahs and people into account.  You can support the Cheetah Conservation Fund in a number of ways:

Sponsor cheetah Bella with the Cheetah Conservation Fund
image © Cheetah Conservation Fund

• Sponsor a cheetah - there are a number to choose from!  The Fund cares for a number of chetahs who are orphaned, old or injured - they can't be released back into they wouldn't survive.  Sponsor one of these cats and you can help cover the costs of caring for them.  Sponsorships start at £3 a month. 
  
  
• Sponsor a livestock guarding dog.  The dogs are trained to protect livestock - they use their presence and loud bark to warn off predators such as cheetahs and that stops farmers from shooting or trapping them.   There is a four year waiting list for these dogs.  
  
  
• You can treat yourself to an item of clothing from the Cheetah Conservation Fund and there are also drawings and prints and photo cards you can buy.
  
  

Sponsor a Livestock Guarding Dog

There is also the Cheetah Conservation Botswana which addresses threats to the long term survival of the national cheetah population.  It promotes co-existence between cheetahs and people affected by conflict with carnivores.  It works to help cheetahs in four ways:  scientific research, farming for conservation, engagement and awareness and communities for conservaiton.  

The African Wildlife Foundation  works to solve the problems facing the cheetah:  habitat loss, illegal trade and human-wildlife conflict.   Its solutions are to work with local communities, and to minimise human-conflict - one of the things they do is to construct bomas which are enclosures for livestock that protect them from big cats like cheetahs.  They also provide consolation funding for farmers who have lost livestock to big cats - which ensures the farms don't retaliate against cheetahs. 

The Range Wide Conservation Programme for Cheetah and African Wild Dogs is funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation with support from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Wildlife Conservation Society.  It aims to support, co-ordinate and implement products, strategies and ideas that will promote the conservation of cheetahs and African Wild Dogs. 

International Cheetah Day is held on 4 December 2020. Visit the website to find out more on any day of the year!