Canadians Making a Difference at CCF Namibia

Meet Becky Johnston from Alberta. Becky has always been interested in working with wildlife, and big cats, in particular. With a BSc in Ecology (University of Calgary, 2015), she fulfilled a life-long dream to be working with wildlife in Africa after being accepted as an intern at Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia. In January of this year, she began her work with the livestock guarding dogs and their puppies, and is a full-time staff member.

With more than 50 puppies born this year at CCF, it has been a busy one; Becky helps care for and trains the puppies to be ‘ready and able’ to help farmers in caring for their livestock.

Now working directly with the cheetahs, Becky performs cheetah husbandry on a daily basis. She ensures that the cheetahs get their regular runs, and that visitors to CCF have a chance to see ‘’behind the scenes’’ of how much is involved in caring for the cheetahs.

Becky is also taking charge of the International Cheetah Studbook which keeps track of captive cheetahs in facilities around the world.

Becky works every day with the dogs, the cheetah, and the goats and sheep and says that ‘’every day I pinch myself that I get to work with cheetahs in Africa. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime experience that I feel fortunate to have.’’ Applying to be an intern just a year ago launched Becky in a new direction and as she says, ‘’if you are passionate about something, go for it!’’