By CCF Staff | Cheetah Conservation Fund
CCF’s renowned Livestock Guarding Dog Program has been highly effective at reducing predation rates and thereby reducing the inclination by farmers to trap or shoot cheetahs. CCF breeds Anatolian shepherd and Kangal dogs, breeds that for millennia have guarded small livestock against wolves and bears in Turkey. The dogs are placed with Namibian farmers as puppies. They bond with the herd and use their imposing presence and loud bark to scare away potential predators. CCF has been placing dogs since 1994 and our research shows the dogs are highly effective, reducing livestock loss from all predators by over 80 and up to 100 percent. Farmers adopt CCF dogs and participate in education on how to train the dog. CCF does on site follow up visits to ensure the dogs have proper training and medical care, and are settling into their guardian role. Farmers have enthusiastically embraced the program.
Bolt and Nesbitt Updates
Last year during 2016, CCF had placed 27 puppies on farms throughout Namibia. This number is lower than other years due to some difficulties with pregnancies with our female dogs, but we still managed to place numerous quality puppies with farmers. Unfortunately, we found out two of our breeding males are sterile, but on the bright side, we received a new breeding male! His name is Bolt, from Taylor Farms in Texas, USA. They sell Turkish breeds, including the Kangal and Akbash, which, as mentioned, have great reputations as guard dogs. Bolt will be a great new addition to our breeding colony as both his parents are from Turkey, making him a fresh bloodline. Once Bolt is old enough, we will begin using him for breeding with our females. Our one sterile male, Nesbitt, has now been placed as a pet in California, USA to a lady who always loved the Anatolian breed and fell in love with Nesbitt during a visit to CCF. There will be another update to follow on Nesbitt as he just arrived in the USA on 1 December 2016 and needs a bit of time to settle in to his new home. For breeding purposes, we also have kept two females from our female Taya and Aleya’s litters. TIKA (Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency) also donated three new pens to the Livestock Guarding Dog Programme allowing us to have more space for our dogs and to have a quieter birthing area for our females.
Livestock Guarding Dogs to Protect High Diplomatic Herds
CCF is very honored and excited that this year we were able to provide mitigation solutions to two people of high diplomatic status. A puppy was provided to the current President of Namibia, His Excellency Dr. Hage Gotlieb Geingob, the dog will be used to help protect his personal herd of livestock. Furthermore, CCF provided the Honorable Professor Peter Katjavivi, the Speaker of the House of the Republic of Namibia and CCF’s International Patron, his third livestock guarding dog.
CCF hopes for great success in 2017 in getting the number of puppies placed increased and to continue to help farmers of all backgrounds in need.
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