Looking for ways to help cheetahs survive, Laurie Marker, an American scientist living in Namibia, in 1990 started the CCF on Elandsvreugde farm at the foot of the majestic Waterberg Mountain some 300 kilometres northeast of the capital Windhoek.
Intensive international fundraising has helped create a laboratory, a public field research and education centre plus a veterinary clinic on the farm, which is open to the public.
The centre also works with cheetah conservation experts in countries such as Algeria, Iran, Kenya and Tanzania.
'We believe in science-based conservation, that is why research is important,' Ms Marker said.
The centre is creating a genetic database of all the cheetahs that pass through their care, hoping to prevent inbreeding when the animals are released back into the wild by ensuring that close relatives are sent to different regions. Some are collared and tracked by satellite.
Andronicus Tjituka still regrets he shot a cheetah two years ago. Mr Tjituka is a successful emerging farmer on his own land in the area and regarded cheetahs as a threat to his livestock.
'I discovered the cheetah I killed had a collar round its neck with the address of the CCF on it. I phoned and informed them about the collar,' he said.
It became a turning point for Mr Tjituka, who then learnt about conservation and now looks after cheetahs on his land.
The CCF is teaching Namibian farmers how to live with cheetahs present on their property, which has helped increase Namibia's population from 2,500 nearly two decades ago to the current 3,000.
Key among its programmes is training Anatolian shepherd dogs from Turkey, called Kangals, to help farmers protect their cattle, goats and sheep from cheetah attacks.
'We now breed them locally and over 350 dogs are now on farms and that greatly reduces losses to farmers,' said Ms Marker.
Namibia imposed a moratorium on cheetah trophy hunting this year to support conservation efforts, although by treaty the country is allowed to export 150 cheetah 'trophies' each year - usually mounted heads of shot animals.
That's a fate the three young cubs have avoided.
'The three cheetah cubs live on, although their mother died so tragically.
This gives us hope that these magnificent cats will not become extinct,' said Leigh Whelpton, a volunteer at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia. -- AFP