Teacher Resources
Help to support our Education Programme
This is a Natural Science Intermediate Phase Resource designed to integrate Environmental Education into the
classroom. It utilizes the cheetah as a learning tool. It was written by local WCED teachers and designed to be
integrated with the National Education Policy
You are welcome to download this resource for use in your classroom
PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER, THAT THIS RESOURCE IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND IS NOT TO BE USED
COMMERCIALLY
Livestock Guarding Dog
Programme
Because a majority of cheetahs in southern Africa live
outside protected areas on farmland, it is essential for
the survival of the species to find non-lethal methods
of protecting livestock from predators in order to
reduce conflict between farmers and cheetahs.
One method is through the use of livestock guarding
dogs. As a result of the success of Cheetah
Conservation Fund’s livestock guarding dog
programme in Namibia, Cheetah Outreach started a
similar project in 2005 to introduce the Anatolian
shepherd to serve farmers in South Africa.
A Turkish breed, the Anatolian shepherd was
originally bred to protect livestock from bears and
wolves. Given to farmers at 6 to 8 weeks of age, the
dogs are raised exclusively with the flock or herd,
instinctively protecting them from a variety of
predators including cheetah. By deterring predators,
this important working relationship removes the need
for farmers to trap and shoot this endangered cat.
As of the end of 2018, 303 livestock guarding dogs
have been placed on South African farms, mostly in
cheetah range in Limpopo and North West Provinces
but also in other provinces to protect sheep and goats
from smaller predators such as caracal and black-
backed jackals, protecting over 425,000 HA and
reducing livestock losses from 95 to 100%. Initially
dogs were introduced to guard sheep and goats but
for the first time in Southern Africa, Anatolians are
guarding cattle and exotic game such as springbok,
sable and nyala.
Cheetah Outreach provides each dog to the farmer
for free and pays for all food and medical expenses
for the first year until the dog is signed over to the
farmer.
The following examples illustrate how dedicated this
breed is to protecting its livestock:
Beska was in a fight with a caracal or brown hyena
and was seriously wounded, but still brought his herd
home safely without any losses.
Crickey was attacked by a leopard when he was only
7 months old, and had serious wounds, but none of
his herd was lost. When returning from the vet, he
was kept in the farm house to recover, but “broke out”
the first night and walked 14 km back to his herd.
Due to the success of the Anatolian Shepherd
Livestock Guarding Dog Programme in South Africa, in
2009 Cheetah Outreach took on the challenge of
breeding the Anatolian for placement on South
African farms. In 2013 Cheetah Outreach established
a formal partnership with another NGO called Green
Dogs Conservation in Limpopo Province, close to
Alldays. Rox Brummer, who is director of Green Dogs
Conservation, has been a close ally of Cheetah
Outreach and has provided excellent litters of
Anatolian livestock guarding dogs in the past. Green
Dogs Conservation is responsible for the care and
breeding of the Cheetah Outreach dogs as well as the
raising of the puppies until they are placed as
livestock guarding dogs.
A huge thank-you to Wildlife
Warriors Worldwide for sponsorship of the Anatolian
Pilot and Breeding Programmes - without their
wonderful help we would not be able to reach
forward with this very important and yet simple
solution to cheetah management on farms.
More…
Anatolian Shepherd - From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Videos
Livestock Guarding Dogs - Cheetah Outreach &
the Rare Species Fund
Cheetah Oureach Livestock Guarding Dog
Programme
Support our Livestock Guarding Dog
Programme
Cheetah Outreach
