The cheetah is the speediest runner on Earth. Sadly, the cheetah is also quickly disappearing. Just 100 years ago, there were about 100,000 cheetahs in Africa and Asia. Today, there are only about 10,000 cheetahs left in the wild.

Laurie Marker lives in Namibia, in southern Africa. She started the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) to help the wild cats. When Marker moved to Namibia, farmers were killing cheetahs to protect their farm animals.

About 20 years ago, CCF began placing special guard dogs on the farms. "They bark loudly," Marker says. The dogs scare away cheetahs but do not hurt them.

Now, fewer cheetahs are being killed. "We've doubled the country's cheetah population," Marker says.