Saving Wild Cheetahs
The Living Desert team in Hargeisa, Somaliland. From left to right: Morgan Dustin, Veterinary Technician; Victoria Fosdick, Animal Care Keeper; Elizabeth Hiner, Animal Care Keeper; Heather Down, Animal Care Curator
By Heather Down, Animal Care Curator Africa’s fastest cat is in a race against extinction. Cheetahs have vanished from over 90% of their historic natural range in Africa with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species estimating only 7,100 remaining in the wild today. Currently, cheetah populations are facing a multifaceted and complex fight for survival from three main threats: human-wildlife conflict, loss of habitat and loss of prey, and the illegal wildlife trade.
8 foxpaws | SPR ING 2023
ANSWERING THE CALL In late Spring 2022, The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens responded to one of our long-term conservation partners, Cheetah Conservation Fund’s (CCF), desperate call for help after receiving a surge of very young cheetah cubs confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade that joined their existing 90 nonreleasable cheetahs and one African leopard who had survived trafficking attempts. After a few short weeks of logistics and travel planning, passport checks, and supplies procurement, The Living Desert’s all-female team consisting of two animal care keepers, a veterinary technician, and an animal care curator were ready to depart for Hargeisa, Somaliland, Africa from our California desert. With suitcases and crates filled with supplies like vital medications and neonatal formula, along with some familiar snacks and goodies for the CCF veterinary and animal care staff, The Living Desert team arrived in Somaliland ready to go to work. With a familiar standard of care, the team seamlessly assumed a wide variety of animal care tasks including feeding and preparing meals, administering medication, monitoring the overall