Saving cheetahs — what 1 woman is doing to help save the big cats from extinction

Summer Poole
Fri, March 7, 2025

NAMIBIA (WKRG) — Nearly 8,000 miles away from the Port City, you will find Dr. Laurie Marker and the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia — a country in Africa.

Dr. Marker has spent over 50 years studying cheetahs and trying to help keep the endangered cats from going extinct.

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“To save cheetahs, we do a variety of different programs, which include research, education and conservation,” Dr. Marker said.

Dr. Marker created CCF about 35 years ago in Namibia — the cheetah capital of the world — to help save the animals for future generations.

“There are only about 7,000 cheetahs left in the world today, so they are Africa’s most endangered big cat,” Dr. Marker continued.

One issue affecting the cheetah population is the illegal wildlife pet trade, which primarily comes from the Horn of Africa.











“Although I’m based here in Namibia, we have a second base, which is up in Somaliland, which is a breakaway country from Somalia,” Dr. Marker said. “There, the cats come up from Ethiopia and Somaliland, and they’re poached as cubs and sold into the illegal pet trade.”

Dr. Marker continued by saying they have over 100 cheetahs that they have rescued from the trade at their research center in Somaliland.

“We often get cubs in, mostly, and if you get a cub in, and it’s a tiny cub that has to be on a bottle, it probably will not be able to go back out into the wild because it’s too habituated and used to people,” Dr. Marker said.

Later this month, Dr. Marker will come to Mobile for the Educational Travel Conference to discuss the importance of cheetahs and other animals in Africa living in the wild.

On March 20, she will be spending time at the Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores where two cheetahs made it their home in July 2024.

There are many ways to get involved with CCF, including donating to the cause, joining their Facebook page and volunteering at the research center.

More information can be found on the CCF website.

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