Three collared cheetahs shot

Three collared cheetahs were shot and killed “unnecessarily” on a private farm in the south of Namibia six months ago. It is believed the killings were unprovoked and the meat of the three cats was distributed and eaten by farm employees.

The three majestic cats formed part of the rehabilitation centre at the N/a’an ku sê Foundation and has left staff there deeply saddened, disappointed and shocked.

According to a press release by the foundation, the cheetahs’s were released into the wild in 2011 and were being monitored regularly via the GPS tracking devices attached to their collars. They were welcomed with open arms by Willie Agenbag, owner of the Standfontein Reserve in the south of Namibia.

In January however the cats moved onto the “Silwerstroom property of Bertus Fokkens, where unfortunately they were unnecessarily shot by the farm manager Dawie Olivier”. The foundation alleges that they believe the meat was then “fed to the workers”.

A spokesperson said that the matter could not be dealt with by the police, because according to Namibian law the incident was not illegal. She added that it took six months to report the incident due to behind the scene complications.

She concluded sadly that “we worked very hard with the cheetahs and it is quite a disappointment when this happens”.

Dr. Rudie van Vuuren, Director of the N/a’an ku sê foundation, let it be known that “all the time, money and passion we had invested in these three cats were destroyed by human ignorance”.

Van Vuuren refused to have his passion dampened however,and said that “we remain positive about carnivore conservation and focus our time and resources on farmers and landowners who want to conserve and want to farm in ways that benefit both them and the animals. And trust me, there are many of them”.