Overview
In partnership with Ashia Cheetah Conservation, AWCF supports a rewilding and veterinary rehabilitation initiative for cheetahs in South Africa. The programme rescues orphaned, injured, or captive-bred individuals and prepares them for life in the wild. Once rehabilitated, these cheetahs are released into reserves where they can roam, hunt, and contribute to the meta-population.
Why It Matters
The cheetah’s decline is driven by habitat loss, genetic isolation, and human-wildlife conflict. Rescuing and rewilding individuals helps restore population numbers and genetic diversity.
Being apex predators, cheetahs play a crucial role in ecosystem balance — controlling prey species and maintaining healthy landscapes.
Successful release of rehabilitated cheetahs signals that conservation interventions work: animals recovering from crisis, rejoining the wild, surviving on their own.
How We Do It
Health & Rehabilitation: At Ashia’s Cheetah Center, cheetahs receive veterinary care, and nutritional support. Partnership with AWCF help translocation, ensure expert veterinary oversight and intensive care when needed.
Phased Pre-Release Training: Individuals are gradually reintroduced to wild-style conditions: practising their hunting skills, building fitness, adapting to natural diets, sometimes in pre-release enclosures, with tracking to monitor readiness.
Release onto Suitable Reserves: Once ready, cheetahs are released into large protected areas (such as Botlierskop) under conditions that offer prey, minimal threat, and ongoing protection. AWCF contributes to veterinary support during and after release.
Post-Release Monitoring: Using collars (GPS/VHF), ongoing health, movement, adaptation, and survival are tracked. Any medical or environmental issues discovered are addressed with field support.
How You Can Support
Sponsor Rehabilitation: Cover care costs (nutrition, veterinary treatment, housing) for cheetahs in rehabilitation.
- Support Fitness & Release Infrastructure: Help build or improve pre-release enclosures, provide tracking collars, transportation, and release logistics.
- Fund Monitoring & Follow-Up: Enable GPS/VHF tracking, health check-ups, and periodic veterinary support post-release.
Partner & Collaborate: Work with us to expand release sites, improve reserves, and enable genetic swops to maintain population health.