Give Cheetahs a Chance
The Angel Fund is deeply committed to the survival of both captive and wild cheetahs. We believe that living with individual cheetahs imparts the passion which allows us to gain the knowledge of how to save their kind.
The vision and immeasurable importance of these individual animals is that they link us to All that is possible....to All that is Wild.
Cathryn Hilker and a cheetah named Angel were partners for 12 years; working to educate about cheetahs, where they live, what they need, and what we need to do to keep them with us for all time. In her lifetime, Angel connected with over 1,000,000 people.
In 1992, The Angel Fund was established in Angel’s memory to continue the work which she so bravely began by letting her very presence, day in and day out, speak for every living cheetah. Angel helped give cheetahs, everywhere, a presence, a voice, a real chance.
Cathryn Hilker and the Cincinnati Zoo continue Angel’s legacy with the assistance of other cheetah ambassadors - Sarah, Bravo, Chance, Tommy, Nia and Savanna - who work like their predecessors to make the connection that people will save what they see.
One of the most successful aspects of this ongoing work has to do with dogs saving cheetahs! Yes, the Anatolian Shepherd, a breed of guard dog, has been found to be very successful at guarding the herds in the land where wild cheetahs live - so that farmers no longer fear for the safety of their livestock. EVERY SINGLE cheetah counts today. The current count for this fragile cat is 10,000 to 12,000 in the wild. (There were 100,000 in 1900.)
The Angel Fund has also been the inspiration and funding source for the Zoo’s cheetah off-site breeding facility at the Mast Farm. Here, cheetahs gifted by the President of Namibia and other genetically appropriate individual cheetahs are housed in hopes of increasing the captive population in this country.
With the valued contribution, and the invaluable expertise, of the world’s most successful captive cheetah breeding program, De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre, and Cheetah Outreach, both in South Africa, the Cincinnati Zoo’s Cat Ambassador Program can tell the story of cheetahs and wild lands with the assistance of individual cheetahs who allow people into their presence so as to fully appreciate what it means to be the most threatened large cat in Africa, today.
The Angel Fund and the Cincinnati Zoo are integral parts of a true international effort committed to the survival of this amazing cat, and all that live with it. Recently, The Angel Fund produced a film called "The Running Wind." Watch a clip of the film here!
Cheetah purrs and connections can be made by writing:
The Angel Fund
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
3400 Vine Street
Cincinnati OH 45220
or email catshow@cincinnatizoo.org
