Kruger Launches Year-Long Cheetah Census, Enlisting Safari Guests as Citizen Scientists

SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust have opened a year-long photographic census of cheetah across the Greater Kruger National Park, running through August 2027. Rather than relying solely on ranger patrols and camera traps, the project asks visitors and guides to submit their own sighting photos tagged with GPS coordinates and date, feeding a shared database used to track individual cats and movement patterns across the wider Greater Limpopo Transfrontier landscape spanning South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

For advisors, this is a low-effort, high-value addition to any Kruger-area sale: a genuine, dated conservation activity guests can participate in from the vehicle, not a donation ask or a lodge-branded add-on. Brief guides now so guests know to photograph flank markings and spot patterns, and mention the program when pitching Kruger and private-reserve stays through next northern winter — it's a differentiator that costs nothing to include.

• Census window: now through August 2027
• Open to visitors and guides across the Greater Kruger and Greater Limpopo Transfrontier area (South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe)
• Submissions require GPS location and date; used to track individual cheetah and movement patterns