I moved to Namibia in 1991, shortly after its independence from South Africa, and established CCF as in international base for cheetah conservation. Understanding the economic base of the country is extremely important to long-term cheetah survival. Therefore, alternate sources of income have been developed on these farmlands. In Namibia, unlike most countries in the world, the wildlife belongs to the landowners. Trophy Hunting on free-ranging game, as well as wildlife in game farms, where a high fence is put up around large areas of land, contributes a large amount of foreign income to Namibia.
Cheetahs are also legally trophy hunted.
Cheetahs are a big problem to game farmers, since game is concentrated in high numbers on game farms. Once a cheetah gets into a game fenced area game losses to cheetah become an economic problem. Furthermore, many game farms have introduced non-indigenous game, which has an inflated value, and results in higher economic loss because they are not adapted to Namibian conditions and are easier prey for cheetahs. Over the years, game farmers have removed more cheetahs from their farms than livestock farmers. CCF's Research Private landowners, consisting of some 1,200 farmers, will determine the survival of Namibia's cheetahs.