A Lifetime of Saving Cheetahs
Episode description
Starting her career in a more traditional zoo setting in the 1970's, Dr. Laurie Marker has dedicated her professional life to preserving cheetahs in the wild. After what is now Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990, she moved to the southern African nation to help reduce the hundreds of cheetahs killed by ranchers and farmers each year. Through the foundation she founded and leads as Executive Director, Cheetah Conservation Fund works to study, preserve, rescue, and most recently, reintroduce wild cheetahs. Dr. Marker describes her team's efforts in the cheetah translocation and rewinding effort underway in India, whose subspecies of cheetah went extinct in the 1950's. Dr. Marker invites zoo professionals and others interested in conserving cheetahs to attend one of her many events scheduled during her US tour underway now.