Cheetahs are back in Zambia’s Greater Luangwa Ecosystem, nearly 30 years after the big cats’ last recorded presence in the massive landscape.
Six cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), three males and three females, were earlier in July moved by Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and several conservation groups, including the South Africa-based Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), to a remote part of North Luangwa National Park.
The cheetahs were translocated from private reserves in South Africa. Another six will be moved in August, while a third batch of six will follow in August 2027, according to a statement by EWT.
There haven’t been confirmed sightings of cheetahs in the Greater Luangwa Ecosystem since 1998, according to EWT’s fact sheet, which attributes the cat’s disappearance to successive outbreaks of anthrax disease and habitat disturbance.
“Many of the threats that likely contributed to the disappearance of cheetahs from Luangwa in the 1990s have been significantly reduced,” Olivia Sievert, manager for EWT’s Cheetah Metapopulation Project, told Mongabay by email.
Sievert said conservation efforts in North Luangwa and South Luangwa national parks, the two major protected areas in the ecosystem, have resulted in healthy prey populations, allowing large carnivores such as lions (Panthera leo) and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) to flourish across the ecosystem.
“However, cheetahs are unable to naturally recolonise the Luangwa valley because the nearest viable populations are too distant and disconnected for natural dispersal to occur,” Sievert said. “As a result, active reintroduction is the only realistic way to restore the species to this part of its historic range.”
Southern Africa is an important stronghold for cheetahs, listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. However, their populations here continue to decline because of habitat fragmentation and expanding farmland.
“By establishing another viable population in southern Africa, the project strengthens the overall resilience, genetic security and long-term conservation prospects of cheetahs worldwide,” Sievert said.
Nakedi Maputla, director for species, conservation and planning at the nonprofit African Wildlife Foundation, who isn’t involved in the initiative, told Mongabay there’s a mixed record of cheetah translocations in Africa: some have successfully established breeding populations, as in Malawi; others, such as in Zimbabwe’s Matusadona, have failed due to poor planning and lack of long-term monitoring.
Maputla said successfully reestablishing a cheetah population in North Luangwa will depend on “habitat upkeep, tracking movements, conflict mitigation, and enhanced engagement with local communities, as cheetah recovery is both social and ecological.”
Sievert said there’s low risk of conflict in Luangwa between cheetahs and people living around the ecosystem, given that livelihoods there center mainly on crops and poultry rather than livestock, which are often targeted by the cats.
“Extensive community consultations have already been undertaken to build local understanding and support,” she said.
Banner image: Six cheetahs were recently moved to Zambia’s Greater Luangwa Ecosystem, after 30 years of absence. Image courtesy of EWT.
