Ayla and the cubs - March 2010

Ayla and our two smaller cubs have recently been the subject of some exciting new research. Flo and his research team have been taking samples of their footprints and using the data to test some new software which could help to track and identify wild cheetahs.



The software is currently being developed and will enable farmers and conservationists to monitor the movement of cheetahs in the wild. A scanned image of a cheetah’s footprint will be stored in the system so that whenever another footprint is found, it can be cross-referenced against the system to search for matches. This will allow the movement and habits of cheetahs to be monitored more closely and accurately, thereby increasing our ability to protect this endangered species.

We at N/a’an ku sê are very excited and privileged to be involved in the development of this groundbreaking technology and it just goes to show how very special our cheetah cubs are!