by Victoria Yu

Break out the confetti—we've officially finished all field work for Kenya's National Cheetah Survey!

Phase 1: 2004-2005.
In the first phase, we filled in gaps in cheetah population knowledge for regions, such as national parks and reserves, where wildlife studies had already been done.

Phase 2: 2006-2007.
In the second phase, we gathered information from areas in northern and central Kenya that had reported cheetah conflicts but, due to lack of security and roads, had received little focused attention.

Although heavy rains and tribal clashes delayed field work toward the end of 2006, we kept on trucking and finished by October 2007. The next several months were dedicated to analyzing the data we'd worked so hard to get. The goal is to help KWS find the most sustainable regions for future conservation programs by comparing historic cheetah territories with current populations. Our partners in the three-year census were the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the East African Wildlife Society (EAWLS). Many thanks to the Cincinnati Zoo Angel Fund, EAWLS Stichting Netherlands, and Cheetah Conservation Fund for helping to fund our work.