Conserving cheetahs<\/p>\n
Once widespread across Africa and Asia, the cheetah is now largely confined to southern Africa, with a tiny remnant population of Asiatic cheetahs surviving in Iran. Globally, just 6,500 to 7,100 individuals remain in the wild.<\/p>\n
Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN since 1986, the species has suffered a dramatic decline over the past century and today roams less than 10 per cent of its historic range. For decades, work has been underway to restore South Africa\u2019s cheetah populations, but the initial efforts concentrated more on growth in every population.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not what the metapopulation approach is about,\u201d says Sam Ferreira, large mammal ecologist at South African National Parks.<\/p>\n
A metapopulation is a network of small, separate populations that together act like one larger population. In the wild, cheetahs would naturally disperse and connect these groups, sharing genes and boosting resilience.<\/p>\n
But with fences and other human infrastructure now blocking that movement, conservationists have stepped in, mimicking those processes using translocations. It\u2019s a kind of Tinder for big cats.<\/p>\n
Fencing became an increasingly common feature of South Africa\u2019s landscape after the country\u2019s political transformation in 1994, when wildlife tourism surged and private reserves multiplied.<\/p>\n
While these barriers helped to reduce human-wildlife conflict and poaching, they also impeded the natural movement of cheetahs, which depend on vast, open spaces. A growing human population has also impacted the landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtected areas have become more fragmented,\u201d says Olivia Sievert, cheetah range expansion co-ordinator for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT).<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, you don\u2019t have the natural dispersal that allows gene flow between populations, so there\u2019s more inbreeding. This impacts cheetah health, including reproductive health. Litters can be smaller, and the animals more susceptible to diseases. It becomes dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMetapopulation management is also about source-sink dynamics,\u201d adds Sievert.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a population that\u2019s acting as a \u2018sink\u2019 for a species, because of disease or predation, the natural metapopulation dynamics of dispersal allows a \u2018source\u2019 that has good breeding to rescue it. Fences and other human impacts mean you lose these dynamics. That\u2019s why we do this work.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Conservationists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Conservationists-tranquilising-a-cheetah.jpg\")
Conservationists prepare to transport a tranquillised cheetah to its new home – Jim Tan
\nThe Cheetah Metapopulation Project <\/p>\n
In 2011, the EWT launched the Cheetah Metapopulation Project (CMP), driven by conservationist Vincent van der Merwe. Today, two other organisations in South Africa are successfully working on cheetah metapopulation management and range expansion: Ashia Cheetah Conservation, founded in 2016; and The Metapopulation Initiative (TMI), founded in 2022 by van der Merwe, after he left EWT.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheetahs play a big role,\u201d says Sievert. \u201cWhen we introduce them to a new area, the number of scavenging birds increases, especially vultures. Cheetahs leave a lot of food in a landscape, so they promote the scavenging community, which is critical for controlling disease. It all has a knock-on effect.\u201d <\/p>\n
The cheetah is also a charismatic species, attracting tourists. As well as coordinating translocations from one location and population to another, both within and outside South Africa, metapopulation management involves the extensive monitoring of population dynamics, and the maintaining of a national studbook and DNA database.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge is habitat and finding suitable homes for surplus cheetahs,\u201d says Kulani Nyakane, cheetah metapopulation manager for TMI.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn South Africa, we\u2019ve done well, and we\u2019re running out of space. We want to ensure we relocate the cheetahs to an ecosystem, such as in Zambia.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not only wild cheetahs that are moved. Zoo-born and captive-bred animals are also translocated, increasing the diversity of genetics within the wider metapopulation.<\/p>\n
![\"Giraffes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Cheetahs-and-giraffes.jpg\")
Giraffes keep a wary eye on a cheetah, but the cat preys on much smaller animals, from warthog to impala – Buena Vista Images\/Getty Images