Bushtracks is a proud partner of the Wildlife Conservation Network. Wildlife Conservation Network is an innovative United States-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that protects endangered species. They do this by supporting entrepreneurial conservationists who pursue strategies for people and wildlife to co-exist and thrive.
Bushtracks Expeditions contributes 1% of the cost of each safari to wildlife and community projects. The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is one of these unique efforts.
CCF has a field base in Namibia, which has the world’s biggest population of wild cheetahs. In the last 100 years, the world has lost 90% of the wild cheetah population. Today, one-third of wild cheetahs live in southern Africa, and CCF is working across Africa to save the species throughout its range. CCF’s success has encouraged Namibia, a nation that previously regarded cheetahs as vermin, to proudly claim the title of “Cheetah Capital of the World,” thanks to a comprehensive strategy that balances the needs of people and wildlife.
For cheetahs, human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss, and the illegal wildlife/pet trade are the three main threats causing the endangerment of the species. Cheetahs often become injured or orphaned due to one or more of these threats. The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) often receives these animals at their rehabilitation facility in Namibia and has developed a protocol for reintroducing these cheetahs to the wild.
CCF’s dispute resolution efforts, as well as its education and outreach activities, are being copied in other cheetah-range countries and are serving as a model for carnivore conservation efforts across the world.
You can learn more about their vital work here.