Rewilding is the most effective way to help wildlife heal and return to its natural state.
Recently, WildLife Foundation had the opportunity to welcome Dr Laurie Marker, Founder and Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) at Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s Cheetah Territory.
Founded in Namibia in 1990, CCF has been dedicated to saving cheetahs in the wild. CCF UK is an affiliate of CCF Global, raising funds and awareness to support work in Africa and beyond to save the cheetah from extinction.
WildLife Foundation is proud to be a long-term partner with CCF to raise much-needed funds for this vulnerable species. We pledged to match all donations for CCF’s Rewilding in Namibia appeal up to £10,000 to support their ongoing rescue and rewilding initiatives in Namibia. During their visit, we delivered a cheque of £7,500, doubling the impact and helping to give more cheetahs a second chance in the wild.
Kendi and Tafari at the Cheetah territory at Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Why rewilding matters
The cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal. However, they are now listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Today, cheetahs can only be found in only 9% of their historic range and are functionally extinct. Once found throughout Asia and Africa, there are fewer than 7,100 adult and adolescent cheetahs in the wild, making them Africa’s most endangered big cats.
But cheetah conservation isn’t just about preventing their extinction – it’s about ensuring they can live and flourish in their natural habitat. Rewilding plays a crucial role in this effort, involving the reintroduction of cheetahs back to the wild and the restoration of natural ecosystems.
For this campaign programme, CCF is focusing its efforts on Namibia which is home to some of the last remaining wild cheetahs. Their centre here receives cheetahs injured due to human-wildlife conflict or other accidents and works to rehabilitate them.
In the rewilding process, all cheetahs are given a thorough health check and fitted with a satellite tracking collar before being placed in a pre-release enclosure to acclimatise to their new environment. Once released into the wild, they are carefully monitored.
Hela and her cub in the wild
One of the rewilding success stories by CCF is Hela. In 2018, orphaned cub Hela arrived at CCF and was considered a candidate for rewilding. Two years later, she was released into the wild where she became a proficient hunter and even fell pregnant. Since the birth of her four cubs, CCF’s centre in Namibia has been monitoring them and they are now all safely settled in Erindi Private Game Reserve.
Hela’s story shows that with the correct rehabilitation, orphaned cheetahs can enjoy a life in the wild, as nature intended.
“Rewilding in Nambia” is not the first and only collaboration between WildLife Foundation and CCF to protect this endangered species. In 2024, we launched our Cheetah Challenge appeal, which aims to raise £10,000 to help protect cheetahs in the wild.
The Cheetah Challenge was inspired by the birth of Kendi and Tafari, the only two surviving cheetah cubs born in Europe in the same year at YWP. Their arrival marks a significant milestone in the European breeding programme for this vulnerable species and has raised heightened awareness about the plight of Northern Cheetahs.
All donations to the Cheetah Challenge go directly to support the Cheetah Conservation Funds efforts to safeguard these big cats from threats of poaching and habitat loss.
Your support will play a vital role in ensuring the survival of wild cheetahs. “Whether it is a small or sizeable donation, any contributions will make a huge difference in cheetah conservation,” said Cheryl Williams, Chief Executive of WildLife Foundation.
“These contributions will significantly help us in our aim to preserve the Cheetah population, ensuring that these adorable animals can thrive in their natural habitats for generations to come.”
Help us protect the Cheetahs today: https://easydonate.org/CHEETAH5
