Brenda Sherburn, Director of Save World Draw, spent the second week of March with Action for Cheetahs in Kenya (ACK). Brenda is an artist and sculptor who created Save World Draw (saveworlddraw.org). The purpose of Save World Draw is to help underfunded conservation and human aid projects worldwide, particularly to help fund special items listed on their “wish lists” in order to complete their projects. To date, projects in China, Belize, Vietnam, Brazil, Alaska, and Africa have all received grants through her efforts.

Action for Cheetahs in Kenya began constructing a field camp to accomodate staff, volunteers, and students. We broke ground on March 23rd. EcoSys Action, Africa Travel, Inc., and funds raised on the Fall 2008 international tour supported the camp construction. We purchased three tents, and are building a small office/kitchen area. The camp will have outdoor showers and toilets. We will be able to accomodate six people at a time.

Live Baiting the Cheetah

In July and August of 2008 we used live goats in an attempt to lure cheetahs near three trap locations. We built protective enclosures for the goats using thorny fences and wire mesh. We hoped that the movement and vocalizations of the goats would naturally draw the cheetahs toward the trap area. We used this method on two occasions for all three of our selected trap locations.

Mary Wykstra - Director

Savannah Designs in Nairobi and ACK partnered to develop telemetry collars to provide information on the movement of cheetahs. These collars will supply GPS data, speed of the cheetah's movement, and ambient temperature. The operating system for data management of this project is through the Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia, and the Save the Elephant organization in Samburu. The cheetah collars will send SMS messages to the operating system - basically, the cats will be calling us! Five collars are GSM, and the other three will record the data directly onto the collar.

I am just back in Kenya. While abroad, I established links and gained support for Action for Cheetahs in Kenya (ACK). I am grateful for all of the help provided by my long-term and newly-acquired friends.

At the Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference in Houston I met several people who are making great strides in conservation and benefitting communities all over the world. We, as conservationists, are so thankful to zoos and individuals that support us financially, in-kind, and with emotional support. The zoo world has been my backbone since University.

BBC News
Footprints offer clue on path to modern man
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
The evidence, reported by a team that included Rutgers University in today's issue of the journal Science, comes from the rarest of anthropological discoveries - their footprints. Among those who helped uncover the tracks, preserved for the ages when a ...

The economy drives everything from the price of fuel to conservation efforts. We are forced to become creative in our efforts to save the wild cheetah from extinction in Kenya. The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is one conservation organization which is suffering from the global economic crisis. In order to continue their programmes in Namibia, CCF has made the decision to downsize its international efforts and has given the Kenya cheetah project the challenge of functioning independently from CCF. We, the Cheetah Conservation Fund Kenya staff, are deeply indebted to Dr.

BRITISH hunters, including a prominent Harley Street surgeon, have been paying the Zimbabwean authorities thousands of pounds each to take part in a mass elephant cull.

They are among groups of hunters who have been permitted to track and kill whole herds, including their calves, before taking photographs of themselves with the carcasses.

Rumours that Zimbabwe was culling its population of 80,000-100,000 elephants have been circulating for some time, but definitive proof that foreigners have been paying to be involved has emerged only now.