Hogle Zoo is helping to protect cheetahs

Cosmas Musya Wambua's love for animals began at an early age. He grew up around the wildlife in Kenya, Africa, where game roamed freely around his home.

"But by the time I was 10 years old, they were gone," he said. "Wildlife parks are the only way you can see them now."

Although many outsiders have a picturesque view of Kenya, with wild animals and residents living together in peace, Wambua said the media-driven image is far from reality. Animals must compete with humans for land, a competition that is driving some species near to extinction. Wambua is focusing his attention on the cheetah, through work with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Kenya. And support from Utah's Hogle Zoo is helping the nonprofit group conserve the endangered creature.

"The last resort cannot be only seeing cheetahs in zoos," he said. "Ultimately, the future of the cheetah is in human hands."

Last week, Wambua visited Hogle Zoo to promote CCF and thank zoo officials for their work with the group. For the past seven years, Hogle Zoo has sponsored the Cheetah Cha Cha, a fund-raiser that benefits CCF in Namibia and Kenya. Former Hogle Zoo employee Mary Wykstra runs the CCF-Kenya office.

"When you're talking about cheetah research, you can't leave out Hogle Zoo," Wambua said, noting the zoo has raised tens of thousands of dollars for CCF. "They've done so much."

Protecting the cheetah is not a problem unique to Kenya. Cheetahs are dying at a rapid rate all over Africa. The cheetah is in a race for survival and is on the United States' Endangered Species list. According to CCF, the species, which is 3 1/2 million to 4 million years old, was at one time common throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Today, most cheetahs reside in southern Africa. Cheetahs have decreased from 100,000 at the end of the 19th Century to approximately 12,500 today.

"The biggest threat the cheetahs are facing is the land use change," Wambua said. "There is not space for wildlife to roam around. They are being pushed into small lands, smaller areas, because of settlements."

Currently, CCF is working in a community called Machakos, about 150 kilometers from Namibia, where CCF is based. Because of the substantially reduced area for cheetahs to roam, the species is facing disease and inbreeding. But that's only a small part of the problem. Many farmers are killing cheetahs because the big cats eat livestock.

"The wildlife has tremendously gone down, so the only option the cheetah has is to take domestic goats and sheep," he said. Cheetahs are facing two battlefronts and must compete with even bigger predators, such as lions and leopards. "So cheetahs go to the farmland for refuge."