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African Cat Project partners with organisations in Africa that are working on important and impactful big cat conservation projects.

We facilitate, provide funds for, and support the rescue, rehabilitation, reintroduction, monitoring and research of lion, leopard and cheetah populations in southern Africa.

Read more about each specific project below.

You can support our work in many ways - join us at our fundraisers, purchase something from our shop, or you can buy specific items for each project below.

 

Leopard Conservation Project

The leopard is Africa’s most abundant, but elusive, big cat, and are known about the least. Exact numbers are therefore not known, and are estimated at 50,000 worldwide. Like the lion and cheetah, they are listed Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List with numbers decreasing.

A solitary hunter with a sleek coat covered in rosettes, the leopard has been hunted to extinction and near extinction in some of their former historic ranges. Leopards also face the same threats as their other big cat companions such as habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, the illegal wildlife trade, poaching and unsustainable trophy hunting.

We work with our valued partners, The Kariega Foundation in South Africa, and Naankuse Foundation in Namibia, on human-leopard conflict mitigation programs, rescue, rehabilitation and release projects, reintroduction initiatives, and research and monitoring of wild leopard populations. You can directly support these projects via the buttons below:

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Cheetah Conservation Project

The world’s fastest land mammal is racing towards extinction, with numbers at a mere 6,700 worldwide. A dangerously low number that sees them listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Cheetahs face numerous threats including competition from larger carnivores - which sees them pushed out of protected areas which often results in them succumbing to human-cheetah conflict incidents. They also face threats such as habitat loss. Cheetahs have been driven out of 91% of their former historic range (thanks to us humans) - they used to roam freely all over Africa and Asia, but now only reside in six African countries, and they are almost completely extinct in Asia with fewer than 50 individuals in Iran. Cheetahs, like all big cats, also face huge threats from poaching, unsustainable trophy hunting and the illegal wildlife trade.

We are working closely with our partner, The Kariega Foundation, on a cheetah reintroduction project in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. You can support this project via the buttons below:

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Lion Conservation Project

The world’s only social cat, and Africa’s most iconic animal, the lion, is currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List with numbers at an estimated 20,000 across Africa.

In the last 25 years, half of Africa’s lions have disappeared and just over a century ago, there were more than 200,000 wild lions living in Africa. Lions are extinct in 26 African countries and have vanished from over 95% of their historic range, due to human encroachment and development. They also face threats such as poaching, hunting, the illegal wildlife trade, and human-wildlife conflict.

We are working with our partner, The Kariega Foundation, on lion conservation, monitoring and research in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. You can contribute directly to this project via the buttons below:

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