Cheetah hunting in Namibia

Cheetah, the epitome of speed and the world’s fastest land mammal. These slender, sleek looking carnivores with semi-retractile claws that can attain incredible short bursts of speed and by using its long tail as a rudder can make any quick direction changes while chasing down its prey. Cheetah are revered by many but in most cases detested by small stock farmers. Cheetah only eat fresh meat and do not return to a kill like a leopard. Only eating fresh meat creates the need to kill more regularly and often farming stock pays the price. For this reason many landowners do not tolerate Cheetah and many are happy to see them hunted. Only two countries in Africa permit Cheetah hunting of which Namibia is one. They are hunted in the northern, central and southern regions where the Cheetah population densities increase as you move from west to east. Listed as vulnerable and decreasing by the IUCN, this protected species requires an import and export CITES permit as well as a prearranged predator permit from the Namibian Nature Conservation authorities. Currently, the USF&W does not permit the import of Cheetah trophies in the USA despite scientific evidence proving that Namibia has a healthy well managed Cheetah population.