CCF and Namibia are conserving cheetahs and other wildlife for future generations by showing the value of the species to today’s children. CCF has a few cheetahs at our centre that came to use through various unfortunate situations. Sometimes they were confiscated from individuals keeping them illegally as pets or came to us as orphans due to Human/Wildlife Conflict. They are non-releasable because they lack the necessary survival skills and so will live their lives out here at our Centre.
Even in Namibia, just like in other parts of the world, some children have only seen a cheetah in books others might have seen them on TV but imagine their excitement, when see them in person.
Omuulukila primary school from Uutapi in the far northern part of Namibia, visited the cheetah conservation fund as part of their school trip to the coast of Namibia to learn about the cheetah, as part of their environmental studies.
The kids’ excitement began with a tour through our cheetah museum, going through the history of cheetah in Namibia, and the history of CCF’s efforts towards conservation. The visit included a walk around the predator “preyground” (a playground that allows visitors to take the role of a predator and their prey and test their skills of survival), and then they had a chance to observe our ambassador cheetahs.
On the same day CCF was hosting a workshop with Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) who are collaborating with us on the implementation of our Teachers Resource Guide. Omuulukila Primary School coincidently has a PCV stationed at their school that was present on the trip and so the attendees of the workshop had a chance to observe our education program in action.
It’s always a pleasure for us to be able to host our national schools at CCF’s centre. These visits give students real life experiences that can help to change their perceptions of carnivores. They are better able to learn about the importance of predators in the environment by seeing the cheetah ambassadors at CCF. Learning about wildlife, the environment and biodiversity, contributes to the life expectancy and preservation of predators and helps maintain healthy eco-systems.