News

Today marks the presentation of some fantastic prizes to members of the public who participated in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) Carnivore Conservation Group Cheetah and Wild Dog census, which ran for 7 months between October 2004 and May 2005.

This photographic census is different from any previous census of its type as it involved the public in counting two of the most threatened carnivore species found in the KNP at the same time, that is, the Vulnerable Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the Endangered Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) – as classified by the IUCN (World Conservation Union).

This was only the second time in the more than 100-year history of the KNP that the Cheetah population has been counted. The first census was conducted in 1991/1992 and 172 individuals were identified. This was however the fifth Wild Dog census and previous results portrayed a fluctuating population of this endangered species. In 1989, the population stood at 357, in 1995 it stood at 434 and in 2000 it had dropped to 177 individuals. It is believed that these fluctuations are natural and that carnivore populations seem to do better during dry periods when prey is possibly easier to catch.