Dr. Laurie Marker is a world-renowned conservationist who has single-handedly shaped the trajectory of cheetah conservation while restoring thousands of acres of African farmland and improving the livelihoods of rural residents.
Cheetah numbers are in steady decline; in 1975 there were 14,000 wild cheetahs, today the number hovers just over 7,000. New data suggests the numbers may fall by 53 percent over the next 15 years.
One reason why cheetahs are in decline is because they range far beyond protected areas and this results in them coming increasingly into conflict with humans.
Marker is set to travel from Namibia to the UK between June 7-14th for a series appearance (including the Big Cat Sanctuary 25th Anniversary Fundraiser in Kent). The tour is designed to raise awareness for the plight of the world’s fastest land animal, with fewer than 7,000 cheetahs remaining.
June 8th – Dublin Zoo appearance
June 12 – Big Cat Sanctuary’s 25th Anniversary Fundraiser in Kent
June 14 – Event at Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Marker found her life’s mission in 1974 when she moved to Oregon to open the state’s third winery. Her plans to be a viticulturist got derailed by a cheetah cub named, Khayam, who she met at her ‘side job’ working at Oregon’s ‘Wildlife Safari,’ zoological park. Marker hand-raised Khayam and travelled to Namibia in Southern Africa with her as part of pioneering research to find out if she could teach a captive-born cheetah to hunt. Ecological reports show that she succeeded.
Cheetahs are found mainly in eastern and southern Africa, together with a location within Iran. The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world; the big cats have a slender, long-legged body. Cheetahs are tan in colour with black spots all over their bodies. Cheetah are active mainly during the day, with hunting its major activity.
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In 1990, Marker started the Cheetah Conservation Fund and moved to Namibia permanently to develop an international Cheetah Research & Education Centre on a 156k acre private wildlife reserve. Today, the centre boasts a modern genetics lab, veterinary clinic, model farm, vineyard, and an eco-tourism operation, employing hundreds in one of Africa’s most economically challenged areas. In 2022, Dr. Marker set up a second Centre in Somaliland to care for over 100 cheetahs confiscated from the illegal wildlife pet trade. She also helped reintroduce cheetahs to India where they had been extinct for 70 years.
Dr. Marker has committed her whole life to one purpose – saving the planet’s fastest land animal from extinction. She is especially concerned as to what will happen to entire ecosystems if we lose the cheetah.
