What they do
The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is the global leader in cheetah conservation research and protection. Based in Namibia, CCF rescues and rehabilitates trafficked cheetahs from the Horn of Africa, runs livestock guarding dog programs (reducing farmer-cheetah conflict), and operates education and training centers. Their 2025 Education and Training Centre expansion increases capacity for regional conservation professionals.
Why they matter
Cheetahs have declined from 100,000 to approximately 7,100 individuals in the wild, making them one of Africa's most threatened large cats. CCF addresses every dimension of the threat: illegal trafficking, human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss, and lack of local conservation capacity. Their livestock guarding dog program is particularly innovative: providing Anatolian shepherd dogs to farmers eliminates the primary reason farmers kill cheetahs (livestock predation) at a fraction of the cost of fencing.
How to support
Donations fund rescue operations, livestock guarding dog programs, and education centers. Adopt a cheetah through their symbolic adoption program. Visit CCF in Namibia for educational tours.
Key project to explore
The Livestock Guarding Dog Program has distributed over 700 dogs to Namibian farmers, reducing livestock losses to predators by 80 to 100% and virtually eliminating retaliatory killing of cheetahs on participating farms.