It’s a gray, soggy morning here in the Northeast, and I’m not moving too quickly. It would be a perfect day to just laze 
around in bed all day watching the rain. The antidote to this kind of day may just be this great wildlife conservation/volunteer trip from Biosphere Expeditions—you couldn’t get much more opposite: dry, hot Namibia and focused on cheetahs, the fastest land animals on earth.
85% of our world’s cheetahs are in Namibia, and that fact is lamented by the ranchers in that area who lose domesticated herd animals to hunting cheetahs. The meal of choice of the cheetahs is not necessarily ranch livestock, but optimal food sources are growing ever more scarce as the delicate balance tips even further away from natural order. The result is that farmers and ranchers see cheetahs as enemies, and shoot to kill to eradicate the threat to their livelihood. Humans are the biggest threat to the survival of these magnificent cats.
Your role as a conservation volunteer would include collecting data in the Khomas Hochland region (being fully trained by scientific research staff) to help Biosphere continue their good work resolving human/predator conflict.
“We believe there is enough space in this region for farmers and cheetahs to easily tolerate one another; cheetahs only attack valuable livestock and game species if there are not enough smaller, wild prey animals present,” said Kathy Wilden, Strategy Director of Biosphere Expeditions.
“Our new expedition aims to provide scientific proof and guidelines for farm management to address the issue. The results of our work will be used to create ways in which there can be peaceful co-existence between humans and big cat predators. This in turn will support a sustainable future for all in central Namibia.”
The 12-night expeditions run in November and December or between January and March.
For more information visit www.biosphere-expeditions.org
Change by Doing 