Science and Research

Chewbaaka’s Wild Cheetah Challenge – 2023

  • by Dr. Laurie Marker July 1, 2023
Chewbaaka’s Wild Cheetah Challenge – 2023

This has been a year of celebration for the cheetah beginning with the birth of a litter of four cubs to a released cheetah named Hela. New cubs mean CCF’s release program is working. Successful reproduction is an important measure of success for any rehabilitation and release program. We also released four adult cheetahs from Namibia, Oban, Freddie, Elton and Aasha into the unfenced wilds of Kuno National Park in India. The four are doing well, exploring and hunting independently, another measure of a successful release.

For more than 45 years, I have conducted and led the research that informs CCF’s programs. With your help, we are saving the cheetah in the wild. You can make twice the impact with a donation before August 31st. Your donation will be doubled up to $350,000 during Chewbaaka’s Wild Cheetah Challenge.

AND, donations of $500 and above receive an art print (while supplies last). “The Edge” donated to CCF by the ENDANGERED campaign and created by Kimberley Webber is a reproduction of the original artwork created in oil using earth pigments. The print is 17″ x 28″ and printed on archival paper (pictured below). Your art print will be shipped directly to you from our United States office on September 5th.

Limited Edition Prints; signed and numbered by the artist - size 17" x 28".

Double Your Gift

Fill-in your details below to make twice the impact toward CCF’s programs.

Named for Chewbaaka

In honor of Chewbaaka, one of CCF’s first ambassador cheetahs, our annual matching campaign is how we continue our work to save the cheetah in the wild.

Double Your Donation

Reintroduction programs for predators require a lot of research. When a species like the cheetah is gone from the ecosystem its not quite so easy to put it back. The reintroduction of eight cheetahs in India took more than a decade of research, planning and debate. Their release into Kuno National Park ended a 75 year absence of the species in India and has led to a renewed interest in restoring cheetah populations into other former range countries.

The costs to conduct rehabilitations and releases can be high, which is why we need your support.

The food, veterinary care and enrichment for each orphaned or injured resident cheetah living at CCF is more than $5,000 per year. The cost for rehabilitating and releasing cheetahs can be more than $15,000.

But, giving cheetahs a second chance at life, both at our centres and in the wild, is invaluable. Your donations before August 31st will be matched but your impact will be felt for many years to come.

CCF’s success in the rehabilitation and release of cheetahs means that, we will continue to play a key role in reintroduction efforts wherever they are happening. However, it is much easier to keep cheetahs living in their current range than to reintroduce them after they have gone. So, with your support, we will continue to do the day-to-day work that helps people live alongside the cheetah successfully. Answering farmer-predator hotline calls, travelling to schools in communal conservancies, welcoming guests to our education centre, and conducting the long-term research projects that study the species (from nose to tail) and its ecosystem.

We are also excited about the recent move of confiscated cheetahs from our three Safe Houses in Hargeisa into their new large natural habitats in Geed-Deeble, soon to be Somaliland’s first national park. With your generous contributions, we began the move to the new Cheetah Rescue and Conservation Centre (CRCC). Over two-thirds of the 92 cheetahs are now living at the CRCC. We are continuing to build more habitats and your donation before August 31st will help us to finish up. The cheetahs have been enjoying the sights and smells of their new surroundings, including the new view from the trees growing in their enclosures. They have also enjoyed chasing and playing with each other and hiding in the tall grasses. In the next couple of months, the rest of the cheetahs will be moved to the CRCC.

2023 Chewbaaka's Wild Cheetah Challengers

Brown & Brown Insurance | Bruce G. Geary Foundation | The Berman Family Philanthropic Fund | The Capital Group | Chantecaille | Concierge Unlimited International, Est. 1982 | Lehr Family Charitable Fund | Polly Horton Hix Foundation | Anonymous | Sherry Atterbury | Brookes H. Browne | Candice Clough | Jenny Cordina | Sally F. Davidson | Jim Dougherty | Jason & Jodee Ferree | Steve & Florence Goldby | Jim & Tish Hilbert | James Poley & Joyce Kaneshiro | Richard & Darcy Kopcho | Steven Lambright | Beth Leonard | George S. Loening | Elizabeth Marquart | Susan McCord | Jamie McCulloch | Laura Nachbur | George Ohrstrom | Jack & Sheri Overall | Caitlin & JP Pollack | Marci Rubin | Gary Rygmyr | Adina Savin | Dr. Roswitha Kima Smale | Katherine O. & James Snowden | Helen Misty Tyree | Angela Weisskopf | Bill Weller and Cynthia Smoot Weller

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