I have set myself a challenge to walk 7100km over the course of 2020.
I am challenging myself to do this to raise funds to help support a non-profit organisation that has become very close to my heart.
As many of you will already know I first visited Cheetah Experience in 2018 where I spent 4 wonderful weeks falling in love with the project completely. I was then incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to go back and become more involved working at the project and spent the first 6 months of 2019 becoming part of the most amazing and dedicated team of people caring for the animals and making friends from all across the world.
Cheetah Experience is a project that houses a variety of endangered and threatened species but also looks after some locally rescued animals that are unable to be released. You will find predominantly South African cats at the project; Cheetahs (of course!), African lions (non-breeding males), African Leopards, Caracals, Servals, African Wildcats, as well as others including a Siberian Tiger, Meerkats, Bat Eared Foxes, a Common Daiker, a Pygmy Goat, Chickens and Donkeys.
The projects mission is to raise awareness of the vulnerability of these animals in the wild through educational experiences, as well as ethically breeding cheetahs in captivity.
The aim of breeding cheetahs in captivity is to ultimately see them released back into the wild with the goal of increasing the genetic diversity in the wild population as well as helping to boost the number of cheetahs found in the wild.
Cheetahs are currently listed as vulnerable by the ICUN but have many organisations calling for their status to be updated to endangered as the current numbers estimated to be found in the wild may be as little as half that at the time of being listed as vulnerable. CITES state that despite the vulnerable listing the cheetah is considered to be critically endangered in North and West Africa as well as in Iran. Worldwide there are estimated to be only 6800-7100 cheetahs in the wild worldwide.
There are many reasons why so few cheetahs can still be found in the wild. Cheetahs have a poor survival rate with only around 10% of cubs born in the wild surviving past their first 3 months. A huge portion of the cubs fall victim to predators as they are left alone whilst the mother goes out to hunt and they can fall prey to animals such as lions, hyenas and even birds of prey. Another large reason for the poor survival rate is caused by a lack of genetic diversity within the species, which can lead to an underdeveloped immune system making the cubs susceptible to disease. As with many species they also have to contend with humans encroaching into their habitat, they now only exist in less than 10% of their historical territory, as well as being hunted by farmers as a threat to livestock and by poachers.
The aim of walking 7100km is to walk 1km for every remaining cheetah living in the wild, this works out at around 19.5km or 27000 steps every day for a full year!
I will be completing my target by taking on some organised events such as park runs and challenge walks, as well as my daily activities of walking and running. I will be using a fitness tracker to keep track of my progress and will post regular updates through social media.
All donations made to support me in this challenge will go directly to supporting the incredible work carried out by Cheetah Experience!
