• Approach
    • Financial Integrity
    • Strategies
    • What We Do
  • Protecting Wildlife
    • Conservation Partners
    • Wildlife Funds
    • Rising Wildlife Leaders
  • Impact
    • News & Stories
  • Get Involved
    • Events
    • Fundraise
    • Shop
    • Planned Giving
    • Engage Online
Donate
  • Approach
    • Financial Integrity
    • Strategies
    • What We Do
  • Protecting Wildlife
    • Conservation Partners
    • Wildlife Funds
    • Rising Wildlife Leaders
  • Impact
    • News & Stories
  • Get Involved
    • Events
    • Fundraise
    • Shop
    • Planned Giving
    • Engage Online
  • About
    • Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Reports and Financials
    • Corporate Partners
    • Other Ways to Give
    • Careers
  • FAQ
  • Contact
Newsletter Sign-Up
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Cheetah Conservation Botswana

About | Solutions | Impact | Donate | Stories

Botswana is a remaining stronghold for cheetahs.

Botswana provides a home for approximately 30% of the earth’s remaining cheetahs—there are less than 10,000 cheetahs worldwide; it is the only country where their population remains stable.
Donate Now

Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s main task is reducing human-wildlife conflict.

The cheetah’s lean build gives it the speed and agility that make it famous. However, this rangy physique also means that the cheetah struggles to live alongside bigger cats such as lions in reserves and national parks—the cheetah is too small to compete.

Cheetahs therefore live mostly on non-protected land surrounded by farmers and rural communities. Sharing this land is difficult because farmers perceive cheetahs to be a threat. Human-wildlife conflict is largely responsible for the loss of 90% of the cheetah population (around 90,000 individual cheetahs) during just one century.

Botswana is a remaining stronghold for cheetahs, providing a home for approximately 30% of earth’s remaining 7,100 cheetahs, it is the only country where their population remains stable. Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s main task is reducing the conflict and improving community perceptions towards cheetahs and other carnivores. Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) works together with the communities that live side-by-side with cheetahs, creating initiatives tailored to meet community needs and priorities. They aim to allow cheetahs to remain as a flagship species for the delicate Kalahari ecosystem and its rich biodiversity.

Spread the Word! Connect with Cheetah Conservation Botswana on Social Media.

 

Visit Website

The fastest animal on Earth is rapidly in need of help.

Cheetah Conservation Botswana's Rebecca Klein tells us about the threats facing cheetahs and how CCB is working to protect them. Learn more in this video from TV network HITN.
Cheetah Conservation Botswana (Rebecca Klein)
Botswana has an incredibly important role to play in cheetah conservation globally. It is one of the last and best hopes for the preservation of our earth’s declining cheetah population.
Rebecca Klein

Rebecca Klein, Executive Director

Rebecca grew up all over the world, moving frequently with her adventurous parents. She has always felt as comfortable around animals as she does around people. She moved to Botswana in 2001 to work at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve and while there cared for two orphaned cheetah brothers who had lost their mother to conflict with farmers.

After working with the orphaned cheetahs, Rebecca tried to find an organization dedicated to protecting Botswana’s cheetahs. Upon discovering that there were none, she decided to start Cheetah Conservation Botswana along with Dr. Kyle Good and Ann Marie Houser. She lives in Botswana and hopes that Cheetah Conservation Botswana will help the cheetah remain as the flagship species for the country’s biodiversity.

Conservation Solutions

Icon Reducing Conflict
Icon Scientific Research
Icon Expanding Education
Icon Boosting Local Economies
Icon Honoring Culture

Livestock Guarding Dogs

To reduce conflict between cheetahs and livestock, CCB trains a local breed of Tswana livestock guarding dogs to protect livestock from threats. With a network of over 100 participating farmers, CCB trains puppies and provides free veterinary care and information. CCB continues to monitor all active dogs in the program to assess the effectiveness of this intervention.

Biodiversity in Non-protected Areas

A great deal of biological research has been conducted in protected areas where wildlife roams free and without persecution, but there has been far less research held on farmlands, where the real threat to cheetah survival exists. CCB’s research mainly centers around human-wildlife conflict and finding out how cheetahs are hunting, to ensure that cheetahs are protected with the most useful and evidence-based approaches.

cheetahs_photo_Tom Stahl

Bush Camps

CCB’s education department conducts four-day educational camps, where children and adult groups are immersed in experiential learning and come to appreciate Botswana’s environment and carnivores. At CCB bush camps, participants are exposed to a range of important environmental ideas through lectures, bush walks, activities, and fun games.​

Farming for Conservation

Many farmers who share the land with cheetahs often consider these animals as pests due to the perceived threat that they pose to their livestock. Through CCB’s “Farming for Conservation” program, CCB is trying to help farmers implement inexpensive carnivore control methods to curb losses and improve productivity, thereby improving livelihoods.

Communities for Conservation

Through CCB’s community participatory planning processes, they ensure communities’ social needs are addressed, and a sense of pride for the San’s natural and cultural resources is celebrated, through traditional dances or murals painted at local schools. These partnerships allow communities to be supported and improve their ability to manage their natural resource base.

Icon Reducing Conflict

Livestock Guarding Dogs

To reduce conflict between cheetahs and livestock, CCB trains a local breed of Tswana livestock guarding dogs to protect livestock from threats. With a network of over 100 participating farmers, CCB trains puppies and provides free veterinary care and information. CCB continues to monitor all active dogs in the program to assess the effectiveness of this intervention.

Icon Scientific Research

Biodiversity in Non-protected Areas

A great deal of biological research has been conducted in protected areas where wildlife roams free and without persecution, but there has been far less research held on farmlands, where the real threat to cheetah survival exists. CCB’s research mainly centers around human-wildlife conflict and finding out how cheetahs are hunting, to ensure that cheetahs are protected with the most useful and evidence-based approaches.

Icon Expanding Education

Bush Camps

CCB’s education department conducts four-day educational camps, where children and adult groups are immersed in experiential learning and come to appreciate Botswana’s environment and carnivores. At CCB bush camps, participants are exposed to a range of important environmental ideas through lectures, bush walks, activities, and fun games.​

Icon Boosting Local Economies

Farming for Conservation

Many farmers who share the land with cheetahs often consider these animals as pests due to the perceived threat that they pose to their livestock. Through CCB’s “Farming for Conservation” program, CCB is trying to help farmers implement inexpensive carnivore control methods to curb losses and improve productivity, thereby improving livelihoods.

Icon Honoring Culture

Communities for Conservation

Through CCB’s community participatory planning processes, they ensure communities’ social needs are addressed, and a sense of pride for the San’s natural and cultural resources is celebrated, through traditional dances or murals painted at local schools. These partnerships allow communities to be supported and improve their ability to manage their natural resource base.

Impact by the Numbers

132 Fill 1 Created with Sketch.

mobile workshops conducted for farmers

CCB promoted livestock vaccination, human-cheetah conflict reduction, and sustainable farming practices during the ongoing pandemic.

85% Fill 1 Created with Sketch.

reduction of livestock predation

CCB expanded their livestock guarding dog program to reduce livestock predation and enable coexistence between cheetahs and farmers

341 Fill 1 Created with Sketch.

children engaged through conservation education activities during 2021

This is achieved through bush camps and school visits

Donations of any amount can help pay for school visits that help children learn the importance of predators and conservation.

$50 provides a school kit of learning resources to a school in the cheetah’s Kalahari stronghold.

$100 sponsors a child to attend a 3 day environmental bush camp at the CCB center.

$150 pays for one mobile livestock protection workshop for 20 farmers.

$250 sponsors the medical treatment, vaccination and sterilization of one livestock guarding dog for one year.

CCB Shares Their Latest Work at Expo

Rebecca Klein and Jane Horgan of Cheetah Conservation Botswana share how CCB is protecting cheetahs and how their team is adjusting to due to challenges throughout 2020.

News & Stories

Restoring Peace Between Cheetahs and Farmers

Restoring Peace Between Cheetahs and Farmers

The farmer’s wife greeted Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s (CCB) rapid response unit as they approached the homestead, heralded by a choir... Learn More
How Street Dogs Become Cheetah Protectors

How Street Dogs Become Cheetah Protectors

The dogs were already barking when his truck pulled up to the Ghanzi camp. As he left the vehicle, desert... Learn More
The Secret to Coexisting with Cheetahs

The Secret to Coexisting with Cheetahs

There is a clearing on Callie’s farm where wild antelope gather. Callie and his daughter Alida arrived at this clearing... Learn More
Communities for Conservation

Communities for Conservation

After 30 miles, Jane and Britz finally drove past the last of the commercial cattle ranches. The Kalahari Desert transformed... Learn More
A Snapshot of the 2019 Spring Wildlife Conservation Expo

A Snapshot of the 2019 Spring Wildlife Conservation Expo

On Saturday, April 13th, we hosted the Spring Wildlife Conservation Expo, bringing together some of the world’s most pioneering conservationists... Learn More
A Snapshot of the Fall 2018 Wildlife Conservation Expo

A Snapshot of the Fall 2018 Wildlife Conservation Expo

October in San Francisco signals the return of our flagship Wildlife Conservation Expo, providing wildlife enthusiasts with the opportunity to... Learn More
Meet 2018 WCN Scholar Phale Max Seele

Meet 2018 WCN Scholar Phale Max Seele

Lithe and strikingly beautiful, with intense amber eyes and a graceful gait, the cheetah is world-renowned for being the fastest... Learn More
Uncovering Conservation Secrets from an Unusual Source

Uncovering Conservation Secrets from an Unusual Source

Collecting scat or animal poop may not be the most glamorous or enviable part of conservation fieldwork, but it’s essential... Learn More
A Cheetah's Journey

A Cheetah's Journey

Thaki is a female cheetah that used to inhabit a farming area in Botswana, where local communities depend on livestock... Learn More
Botswana: A Critical Stronghold for Cheetahs

Botswana: A Critical Stronghold for Cheetahs

Cheetahs once roamed vast expanses of Africa and Asia, from South Africa all the way to India. Today we find... Learn More
Dogs and Cats: Helping Farmers and Cheetahs Coexist in Botswana

Dogs and Cats: Helping Farmers and Cheetahs Coexist in Botswana

When people think of sub-Saharan Africa, they are often imagining the landscape of Botswana, although they may be unaware of... Learn More
The Legacy of the Record-Breaking Cheetah Legolas

The Legacy of the Record-Breaking Cheetah Legolas

Legolas was a record-breaking large male cheetah that, during his life, managed to endear himself to both cheetah conservationists and... Learn More
World Environment Day 2018

World Environment Day 2018

Today—on World Environment Day—we'd like to highlight some of the actions our Conservation Partners are taking to help create a... Learn More
Photography Credits: Eric Ash, Cheetah Conservation Botswana, Arnel DeLeon, Ken and Michelle Dyball, Jane Horgan, Susan McConnell, Jon McCormack, Tom Stahl
Charity Navigator

Donate

When you designate your donation to a specific species, 100% of your donation will go directly to the field to support this species.

News & Stories

Discover

Get Involved

Learn More

Sign-up for Our Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Connect With Us

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
Site by Briteweb
Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 30-0108469