‘Harming cheetahs causes trophic cascade — they sustain biodiversity’

Laurie Marker is a renowned zoologist whose work on conserving cheetahs is famous. Marker moved from America to

Namibia

in the 1970s, seeking to protect cheetahs from human-animal conflict and establishing

the Cheetah Conservation Fund

(CCF). Sharing her insights with Times Evoke, Marker explains why saving the cheetah is

vital

, how she involved local communities in her efforts — and her bond with a cheetah called Khayam:
In the mid-1970s, I began working at a

wildlife park

in America. I was one of the few people in the world then working scientifically on cheetahs. I developed a breeding programme and in 1977, I arrived in Namibia on a project. That’s when I found farmers were killing cheetahs due to human-animal conflict. I also discovered no organisation globally was working specifically to save cheetahs — so, I set up the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).




There are vital reasons for us to protect wildlife. Everything in our natural world is intertwined. Biodiversity is the running thread that keeps us all alive. One stitch — or one species — out of this world breaks the thread. It threatens ecosystems and impacts us. Harming the cheetah invites

trophic cascade

. This is a top-down effect. The cheetah is a top predator — it maintains the health of our ecosystems. The cheetah hunts and eats what it needs but then, it feeds the rest of the ecosystem, like jackals, birds of prey, right down to insects.

Such top predators support biodiversity.

Yet, when I started working, no one knew anything about cheetahs or why they didn’t breed well in captivity. This was strange given that people in India, for instance, had revered cheetahs for 5,000 years. Yet, that had become lost science. I wanted to find out everything I could. I learned how to breed cheetahs in captivity and understood how they live in the wild — cheetahs have large home ranges, females have mate choice, males live in brother teams which hold territory together. Cheetahs also lack genetic diversity and fragmented populations are extremely vulnerable. Today, there are less than 7,500 cheetahs in the world, found in only 31 populations in 23 countries. In over half of these countries, the populations are under 100 individuals.



I realised it was crucial to show people that cheetah conservation isn’t just a moral imperative — it could also be a practical opportunity. We work in Namibia on human-wildlife conflict, where people’s livestock are often eaten by cheetahs, which invites human ire. But, as we point out, the cheetah would rather hunt wildlife, which is what it’s naturally evolved with. People can therefore play a positive role by apportioning enough land to support both livestock and wildlife. As livestock is profitable, we often squeeze out wildlife — but maintaining wildlife can lead to ecotourism and economic well-being. We practise conservancies in Namibia — local communities manage their wildlife population and benefit from ecotourism. This gives communities a stake in the welfare of wildlife — and they become eyes and ears on the ground to stop poaching.

We also endeavour to stop the illegal wildlife trade, which goes from the Horn of Africa into

the Middle East

. Sadly, some rich people think that having an exotic animal as a pet is fun. However, this is causing these animals to go extinct — the cheetah in the Horn of Africa is one example. There are laws against this, but when you have a lot of money, you might think the laws don’t apply to you. So, we work to convince these people of the importance of letting wildlife live in the wild. I hope there will be a behavioural shift via younger people towards realising that nature must be in the wild, not in our backyard as a pet.

I myself have been very close to a cheetah called Khayam. She was born in Oregon at the wildlife park where I worked. My job was to find out if a captive-born cheetah like her could learn to hunt in the wild. I brought Khayam to Namibia — and ended up staying here to teach her how to hunt. I taught her like a mother about which animals to chase, where these are found and so on. When I was given the opportunity to name the International Day of the Cheetah, I chose the fourth of December, Khayam’s birthday.


There is so much we can do to protect wildlife. My message to women especially who are interested in this is, don’t be afraid — trust in yourself. Be ambitious and be prepared, it’s a lot of work. And remember, conservation, while involving science and fieldwork, is also about policy and business. Explore multiple ways to make the world sustainable for people and nature — which keeps us all alive.