Threats
habitat modification, loss of prey species, poaching
STATUS:
ESA -- ENDANGERED
(as subspecies venaticus)
IUCN -- VULNERABLE
SIZE:
Weight
77-159 pounds
(35-72 kg)
Length:
47-59 inches
(120-150 cm)
Shoulder height:
27-34 inches
(69-86 cm)
HABITAT":
Grass and bush steppes, dense woodland and
mountainous areas
POPULATION:
5,000-25,000 worldwide (1975 figure)
CURRENT RANGE":
Africa south of the
Sahara, northern Iran
CONSERVATION:
Captive-breeding programs; Species Survival Plan;
CITES trade restrictions
An international ban
on spotted-cat fur has been in effect since 1975, but such fur is still popular in Europe and Asia. This means that wherever cheetahs live, poaching remains
a threat.
Unlike other cats, cheetahs can only partially retract their claws, and their claws are not covered by sheaths. This is probably an adaptation for high-speed running that permits their claws to bite into the ground like cleats.
Cheetahs can be easily tamed and are quite
playful and affectionate. For more than 4,000 years, they have been kept by kings and nobles. Akbar, the Mogul emperor who ruled over Hindustan in the 16th century, kept about 1,000 cheetahs to hunt antelope. Francis I,
a 17thÐcentury French king, often took cheetahs with him when he traveled. He is said to have played with them as if they were pet poodles.
Lack of genetic variation may be a problem for cheetahs. The causes
are unknown, but close genetic similarities among cheetahs may result in increased susceptibility to disease; it may also make them less adaptable than other species, but none of this has been confirmed. What has been confirmed is that all living cheetahs come from a very small gene pool. This indicates that at some point in
the past, the cheetah population must have been quite low. Cheetahs are now so genetically similar that skin grafts taken from an animal in
a particular populationcan be applied to
another animal from a geographically separate population, and the grafts will not be rejected.
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The Fast Track . . .
Nothing on Earth can outsprint a cheetah. It is the fastest land animal alive. It's also one of the most unusual members of the cat family. Tigers and leopards ambush their prey; lions hunt cooperatively in packs. Cheetahs are solo hunters. They rely on pure speed, an adaptation that allows them to prey on some of the world's speediest creatures -- gazelles, impalas, reedbuck, and hares. To catch them, cheetahs try to get within a few hundred feet, and then run them down with an incredible burst of speed that may reach 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). It's a short chase -- cheetahs cannot sustain this pace for more than about 500 yards (450 m). Often the prey escapes. When the prey is caught, the cheetah may have to spend half an hour recovering from its exertion before it can eat. During this time, lions or hyenas sometimes steal the cheetah's hard-won prize.
A female cheetah with cubs needs to bring in a kill every day or so, which means she must spend most of her time hunting. This makes the cheetah especially vulnerable to the effects of human populations on prey species. If game is scarce, cheetahs are in trouble.
. . . To Oblivion
In addition to potential loss of their food source and compe-tition from larger and more numerous carnivores, cheetahs also face significant threats from human poachers who kill them for their hides. Cheetahs once ranged across Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean, wherever there was suitable habitat. But the grasslands where they hunt have been largely converted to pasture and agricultural lands. Cheetahs are increasingly confined to marginal areas far removed from people. The largest remaining cheetah populations are in Namibia and East Africa.
There used to be cheetahs in Asia as well, but they are probably now extinct there except in northern Iran, where a small population of 250 animals was recently discovered.
Unprotected Reserves
All of Africa's large carnivorous mammals have been seriously affected by the loss of habitat and decline of prey species. One response has been to create reserves where remaining wild populations can escape human pressures. But in these protected areas, cheetahs are in close competition with larger predators like lions. On the Serengeti Plain, in fact, lions prey on cheetah cubs. It's estimated that only about five percent of cheetah newborns in the Serengeti reach maturity.
Wildlife biologists believe that cheetahs may do better outside protected areas, where lions and hyenas are less common and cheetahs can function as the top predators. In Namibia, for example, cheetahs have been introduced to areas that have little or no human population, habitat is still reasonably intact, and there are very few lions or hyenas. Cheetahs can adapt to a wide range of environments, and they do well in these carefully selected new settings.
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