The Red List — Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Nature Travel Team

IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Estimated population: fewer than 7,500 mature and independent cheetahs in the wild

The cheetah is one of Africa’s most recognisable predators — and one of its most vulnerable.

A century ago, more than 100,000 cheetahs ranged across Africa and Asia. Today, fewer than 7,500 remain in the wild, occupying just a fraction of their former range. Their populations have become increasingly fragmented, with the vast majority now found outside protected areas.

Namibia is one of the cheetah’s last strongholds, with an estimated 1,500 cheetahs — around a fifth of the world’s remaining population. Much of this population lives on commercial farmland, where cheetahs have historically been viewed as a threat to livestock. In the 1980s alone, Namibian farmers removed an estimated 8,000 cheetahs.

What does conservation look like on the ground?

For cheetahs, conservation isn’t only about protecting animals inside national parks. In Namibia, it also means finding ways for farmers and predators to live alongside one another.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), founded near Otjiwarongo by Dr Laurie Marker in 1990, has spent decades working to reduce conflict between farmers and cheetahs.

One of its best-known approaches is the use of livestock-guarding dogs. Since 1994, CCF has bred and placed more than 800 Anatolian Shepherd and Kangal dogs with farmers. By helping protect livestock, the dogs can reduce the need for farmers to kill predators in response to livestock losses.

This work forms part of a broader approach that includes predator-friendly farming, farmer training through Future Farmers of Africa, research and monitoring, and efforts to combat the illegal cheetah cub trade.

A future worth protecting

The cheetah’s future depends on more than protected areas. With so many surviving on farmland, finding practical ways for people and cheetahs to coexist is essential.

Namibia has shown that conservation can take place beyond the boundaries of national parks — and that protecting a predator can also mean supporting the people who share their land with it.

The cheetah is not simply disappearing from Africa. Its future is being shaped by the choices made on the ground, every day, by farmers, conservationists, communities and researchers.

The Red List — Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis)

Nature Travel Team

IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Estimated population: ~6,788 at the end of 2024

The black rhino is one of Africa’s great conservation stories — but it is far from a story with a guaranteed happy ending.

Fifty years ago, an estimated 70,000 black rhinos roamed Africa. Decades of relentless poaching for their horns reduced the population to roughly 2,400 by the mid-1990s — a devastating 96% decline.

Since then, dedicated conservation efforts have helped the species recover. By the end of 2024, the estimated population had reached approximately 6,788, representing an important step forward. Namibia is home to one of the world’s largest free-ranging black rhino populations, particularly in the Kunene region.

What does conservation look like on the ground?

The recovery of the black rhino hasn’t happened by chance. It is the result of years of difficult, often unseen conservation work.

This includes dehorning programmes, intensive ranger patrols, tracking and monitoring, translocations to establish new populations, and community conservancies that give people living alongside wildlife a direct stake in its protection.

There has also been encouraging progress in the fight against poaching. Across Africa, rhino poaching in 2024 fell to its lowest level since 2011. But the increase recorded in early 2025 is a reminder that these gains remain fragile.

Not a lost cause

The black rhino is proof that conservation can work.

The species has come back from the brink — but its future still depends on continued protection, funding, scientific monitoring and the people working every day in the field.

It is not a lost cause. It is a fight being won slowly — and one worth every effort.