CHEETAH CONSERVATION PROJECT

MetroFibre has renewed its longstanding sponsorship of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), funding critical work to protect South Africa’s cheetahs. The support goes towards managing safe cheetah relocations between reserves, keeping the endangered species genetically healthy and helping populations to thrive in secure environments. The species is fragile and fewer than 6500 remain in the wild today.

In South Africa, most cheetahs live in fenced game reserves and cannot move naturally across large areas. This creates isolated ‘islands’ of populations, which can lead to inbreeding and weaken the species over time. MetroFibre’s sponsorship supports the EWT’s Cheetah Range Expansion Project, which addresses the problem through:

*relocation: experts safely move cheetahs between game reserves, mimicking the natural roaming patterns the animals would follow in the wild;

*genetics: moving cheetahs between reserves mixes the gene pool, keeping the broader population healthy and strong;

*tracking: conservationists fit GPS collars to relocated cheetahs to monitor their movement and wellbeing.

With the backing of MetroFibre, the EWT has managed hundreds of relocations across vast areas in recent years, helping to secure the future of the species. MetroFibre is committed to funding the people doing the science for this programme, backing the work and research that keeps a vulnerable species viable.

www.metrofibre.co.za