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 August 2019, 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 

Livestock Guarding Dog Programme - Progress Report for 2018