The Uganda Cheetah Project

There are some 7,000 Cheetahs remaining in the wild, with an estimated 91% of their original population gone.  They are currently classified as “Vulnerable”, while recommendations have been made to change their status to Endangered.  In Uganda, Cheetahs are very rare.  

The UCP is the flagship project of GAWF launched in 2021 to ensure that Cheetahs have a sustainable and healthy future in Uganda.  UCP aims to gain critical understanding of Cheetahs in Uganda to better aid in conservation efforts and critical decision-making.  The mission of UCP is to ensure a healthy and sustainable Cheetah population in Uganda, with at least some of their gene pool benefitting from the designation of African Wilderness Areas within their Ugandan home range. 

This project is the result of the first ever Cheetah research conducted in Uganda by GAWF founder, Joseph Wright in Kidepo Valley National Park, in partnership with Makerere University Department of Wildlife Management and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Project Details

The home range of the Uganda Cheetah stretches from Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve, up through Bokoro and Mathineku Game Reserves, across the wide-open expanses of Northeastern Uganda and perhaps most notably in Kidepo Valley National Park on the border of South Sudan.  It is assumed that the Uganda Cheetah home range extends into transboundary areas of Northwestern Kenya and Southern South Sudan. 

Phase 1 of the UCP features 2 main objectives:

  1. Implementing a Cheetah Sighting and Reporting system. 

  2. Engaging and educating stakeholders about the importance of Cheetah conservation. 

UPC Phase 1 - Objective 1

Under the first objective, UCP is collecting and analyzing important data about the density and distribution of the Cheetah in Uganda through a Cheetah “sighting and reporting” program.  This collaborative process includes engaging stakeholders, implementing a user-friendly reporting system, utilizing high-tech digital mapping of sightings and analyzing the results.  In short, this sighting and reporting project will have all stakeholders: rangers; tour guides and tourists; local villagers and others call a toll free Cheetah reporting hotline whenever a sighting is made.  This data gets recorded and mapped on a Google Maps based product, ZMAPS. 

UPC Phase 1- Objective 2

Under the second objective, UCP focuses on educating local communities that are within the Uganda Cheetah home range.  Up to 76% of Cheetah home range across Africa is on unprotected lands and in Uganda, Cheetahs must pass through massive unprotected areas in order to survive.  Cheetah are often persecuted for prevention or retaliation of livestock predation.  A key element to the long term success of the Uganda Cheetah is to give locals incentives to help protect them.   In this regards, youth education programs are considered essential in promoting positive attitudes towards the Cheetah and its protection.