{"id":4544,"date":"2017-07-21T22:26:42","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T05:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=4544"},"modified":"2019-07-03T10:50:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T17:50:28","slug":"cheetahs-and-farmers-what-should-be-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=4544","title":{"rendered":"Cheetahs and farmers –What should be done?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Our last days in Namibia were spent considering the future for cheetahs. The big cats are the fastest animal on earth, being able to run in bursts as much as 120 km\/hr. They can reach such speeds for 20-30 seconds. Then they have to capture their prey, often fleeing antelope, or stop as they quickly overheat. Too often a farmer’s goat is the target and here arises an existential challenge to the cheetah’s future in the wild.<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>We visited two different groups working on this problem. \u00a0First we stopped at the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s <\/a>44,000 hectare field site. There we delivered a large collection of medical supplies for their veterinarians. The creator and director of CCF, Dr. Laurie Marker, is a good friend of our UW Conservation Canines friend, Dr. Sam Wasser. Sam had put us in email contact with Laurie and we had gathered supplies from the Skagit Valley Vet Clinic and the Skagit Valley Farmer’s Supply. \u00a0Where else would you go for 4 liters of betadine antiseptic?<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>CCF’s mission is to develop ways that farmers and cheetahs can coexist and to educate in order to reduce poaching of wild cheetahs. They also have 6 or 8 cheetahs that have been rescued, mostly it seems from rich Arabs, and that will have to live in captivity for the rest of their lives.<\/div>\n
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CCF has developed a model goat farm and is working all over Namibia, teaching farmers their techniques. In short, bring the animals in at night and develop a goat-protection dog that is tough as nails and loves goats. \"\"<\/a>The dog they have settled on is an Anatolian breed as big as a small bear. CCF raises these dogs and sells them to farmers. The staff visit each dog several times in their first year in the field. Requests for dogs is running ahead of supply. \u00a0We watched the current crowd of puppies gobble their food as they grow up and bond with CCF’s goats.<\/div>\n
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