Gordon Buchanan presents Cheetah Family and Me on BBC2, Tuesday 5 January and Wednesday 6 January 2021 at 9pm.

Twenty years ago, 100,000 cheetahs lived in Africa, give or take a cheetah or two.

There now barely 7,000 cheetahs in Africa

Gordon visits cheetahs in the Kalamari.  He follows mum Savannah and her four cubs in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, and mum Chili and her five kittens.  Chili and her offspring live in the Great Karoo Wilderness. And the two episodes show us the dangers these animals face.

Most wild cheetahs live outside protected areas and so they come into conflict with the people they share the land with.   The cheetah is the most endangered big cat in Africa.

To help and spread the word, visit these charities working to help cheetahs:

Cheetah conservation charities

The Cheetah Conservation Fund UK undertakes innovative conservation methods, which take the needs of both cheetahs and people into account.  You can support the Cheetah Conservation Fund in a number of ways:

Sponsor cheetah Bella with the Cheetah Conservation Fund
image © Cheetah Conservation Fund

• Sponsor a cheetah - there are a number to choose from!  The Fund cares for a number of chetahs who are orphaned, old or injured - they can't be released back into they wouldn't survive.  Sponsor one of these cats and you can help cover the costs of caring for them.  Sponsorships start at £3 a month. 
  
  
• Sponsor a livestock guarding dog.  The dogs are trained to protect livestock - they use their presence and loud bark to warn off predators such as cheetahs and that stops farmers from shooting or trapping them.   There is a four year waiting list for these dogs.  
  
  
• You can treat yourself to an item of clothing from the Cheetah Conservation Fund and there are also drawings and prints and photo cards you can buy.
  
  

Sponsor a Livestock Guarding Dog

There is also the Cheetah Conservation Botswana which addresses threats to the long term survival of the national cheetah population.  It promotes co-existence between cheetahs and people affected by conflict with carnivores.  It works to help cheetahs in four ways:  scientific research, farming for conservation, engagement and awareness and communities for conservaiton.  

The African Wildlife Foundation  works to solve the problems facing the cheetah:  habitat loss, illegal trade and human-wildlife conflict.   Its solutions are to work with local communities, and to minimise human-conflict - one of the things they do is to construct bomas which are enclosures for livestock that protect them from big cats like cheetahs.  They also provide consolation funding for farmers who have lost livestock to big cats - which ensures the farms don't retaliate against cheetahs. 

The Range Wide Conservation Programme for Cheetah and African Wild Dogs is funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation with support from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Wildlife Conservation Society.  It aims to support, co-ordinate and implement products, strategies and ideas that will promote the conservation of cheetahs and African Wild Dogs. 

International Cheetah Day is held on 4 December 2020. Visit the website to find out more on any day of the year!

There’s a charity caring for lost and abandoned pets who urgently need all our help.  

It’s based in Lebanon, and it’s the Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA). The charity has six staff and it relies on volunteers and international donations.  Today, it featured in the Mail on Sunday who ran an article about it and the help it needs.

It houses 850 dogs, 250 cats, three horses, two vervet monkeys and a pelican.

Not only that, the charity’s volunteers give food and medical care to all the strays roaming Beirut.

Dogs and cats in Beirut need help

As you know, there was a huge blast in Beirut in August when 2,700 tons of combustible chemicals stored at the port exploded.

The result was that 200 people were killed.  Thousands more were made homeless.  And BETA’s teams are searching for dogs and cats who were very distressed and ran away from the explosion area.  At the same time, many cats and dogs have been abandoned because of the financial crisis.  BETA estimate there are about 150,000 strays in the city of Beirut. 

BETA has a Crowdfunder

BETA has issued an urgent appeal – they need to complete a new rescue centre.  

With everything that’s going on – the explosion, the economic crisis and COVID-19, progress on the building has been slow.  The fully equipped stable and a monkey enclosure have been built.  Work is going on to finish the dog kennels – and the area for seniors.

£150,000 is urgently needed to finish it for the rescue dogs, cats and other animals before Christmas because they are being evicted from the current shelter.   And there is a need to provide for the animals’ basic needs such as food and medical care and to carry out their daily tasks. 

Please help provide these animals with the safe haven they deserve.  They have been through enough and need help.

If you have a cat or a dog, why not make a donation on their behalf and give cats and dogs in Lebanon a safe haven!

BETA is now a 501(c)3 charity organization registered in the USA. Tax identification number: 83-2075807

Please donate to the crowdfunder with GoFundMe

There’s also a wishlist on BETA’s website and you can find out more about the charity here.