The Cheetah Research Project (CRP) of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has been established in the farmlands of central Namibia since 2001. The CRP team has been studying the cheetah population focusing on a variety of research topics such as behavioral ecology, spatial ecology, prey selection, population ecology, mating system, reproductive success, genetics, immunology, health status and human-wildlife conflict. The CRP aim is to provide information for evidence based decision making in conservation policy. The project findings have contributed to a better understanding of the cheetah mating system, the spatial ecology of free-ranging cheetahs and their immune system.

The project closely collaborates with commercial and communal farmers and incorporates the knowledge, information, data and ideas of the farmers into the research. It also collaborates with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism of the Republic of Namibia. Furthermore, we train students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). During the last years, some farmer conservancies have approached the CRP members in order to expand the research into other species and areas with the goal of improving the local knowledge and the coexistence between the people of Namibia and its wildlife. This represents a proof of the project success and its acceptance within the local community.