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The Cheetah Symposium in SA.

This report was written by Dr. Gianetta Purchase:

Opportunities and guidelines for the reintroduction of cheetah across national borders in the Southern Africa region for conservation purposes.

In June, AfriCat attended the meeting that the regional programme had organised to bring together government and NGOs to discuss reintroductions of cheetah within Southern Africa, something that is likely to increase as more areas become suitable for cheetah as a result of increased commitment from government and landowners as well as protection of wildlife.

The meeting was very well attended by people from both South Africa and Namibia, the two source countries for cheetah restoration projects. A lot of useful background information was presented that will be available on our website shortly regarding where reintroductions had taken place and the success of such projects.

The meeting provided the first opportunity to discuss guidelines for reintroductions of cheetah and it was agreed that the regional programme would take the process further, compiling a set of guidelines in line with the IUCN Reintroduction taxon specific guidelines.

It was agreed that such a document would assist government wildlife agencies, donors and conservation organisations to ensure that all reintroductions that will take place are successful.