Liefie: One of our Cheetahs running – image by Mateo

Cheetah Experience

ZA CHEETAH CONSERVATION

Where hearts remain

Cheetah Experience relocated from Bloemfontein to Bela Bela, Limpopo in early 2021. Come and visit us at our new home!

WHAT WE DO

Cheetah Experience is a registered non-profit company originally based in Bloemfontein but relocated to Bela Bela, Limpopo in March 2021.

We are home to a number of endangered and threatened species, including cheetahs, leopards, male non-breeding lions, servals, caracals, African wildcats, wolves, meerkats, and a Siberian tiger. Our project takes in rescued animals from the local area, so we also have various animals from time to time, including two dwarf goats and some chickens.

We offer visitors a once in a lifetime opportunity to come on an educational tour and learn about our animals, see them up close, take some amazing photos, and learn how you can join us in the fight to protect these precious species.

We also offer a wide range of Volunteer and Internship Programmes, which have seen over 1,000 hard-working, dedicated people from 33 countries come and be a special part of the Cheetah Experience Global Volunteer Family, and contribute to conservation in South Africa.

Read about the plight of the cheetah and

Cheetah Experience's conservation efforts

Conservation at Cheetah Experience

WHY WE DO IT

"Extinction is Forever"

Our Mission is to raise awareness of the vulnerability of South African species and other endangered species through educational experiences, as well as ethically breeding cheetahs in captivity.

At Cheetah Experience, our animals come first, and everything we do is for our animals. Our current focus is to ensure that our cheetah breeding project aids in the conservation of the Cheetah, by using the DNA samples taken from our Cheetahs to maintain genetic diversity. We work alongside other ethical and responsible projects to help secure the Cheetah's future survival. In 2016 cheetah population figures were revised, showing that the global population of the cheetah is estimated at ∼7,100 individuals, and confined to 9% of their historical distributional range.

Our long term goal is to be able to release some animals into a protected yet self-sustaining natural habitat where animals are still monitored by researchers and medical experts but live free. Understanding their needs, behaviour, and instincts plays a key role in saving animals from extinction.

We are proud to have been involved with some releases through another project over the last few years, as well as donating Rumi and Rae for release in conjunction with the Askari Wilderness Conservation Programme.

Want to get involved? Learn about conservation volunteering opportunities in South Africa.

Meet Our Animals