Many people fear predators, especially big cats such as the lion, cheetah,
and leopard. We are often taught to fear carnivores without understanding their
unique behaviors, special adaptations, and essential roles in the maintenance of
healthy ecosystems. Our attitudes and misconceptions about these species have led
to their endangerment because many people deal with their fear by eliminating
predators.
Endangered species exist in low-population numbers and need intensive long-term
management in order to survive. Attitudes toward predators must be changed if we
hope to save endangered species such as the cheetah. By learning the reasons why
species are endangered, students learn how clean and healthy ecosystems are crucial
and what will occur if we continue to pollute the environment and destroy habitats.
Through environmental education, we can all work together to change the attitudes
and behaviors that have led to the endangerment of predator species and help save
them from extinction. Individuals can make a difference!
To appreciate predators, we must first understand their roles in wildlife communities.
Because predators must kill other animals in order to survive, many myths about
them have evolved over the centuries in many cultures. The plight of cheetahs
symbolizes the problems that many predators face throughout the world. Cheetahs
are endangered because of:
1.Loss of habitat and prey to commercial farming and development
2.Prosecution by farmers as vermin or livestock-killing problem animals
3.Poaching or the illegal taking of an animal
If we are to conserve healthy wildlife populations in the 21st century, we must
understand the ways of animals and recognize their importance to our survival.
Wild species maintain healthy ecosystems; provide us with food, shelter, and
clothing; benefit us economically; and improve the qualities of our lives by
their existence.
Humans are predators and carnivores. We compete with wild animals for natural
resources. Because of growing human populations and over-consumption of the
earth's resources, the world is losing wild places and species as the demand for
food, minerals, lumber, and other resources increase. Two hundred years ago there
were fewer than one billion people living on the planet. Today, about five billion
people live on the planet, and there may be over six billion of us by the year 2000.
Extinction is a natural process, and for hundreds of millions of years, plants and
animals have become extinct. But, the current rate of extinction is something new. The total number of species lost each year may now be as high as 40,000. This rate of extinction is far greater today that at any other time in the past 65 million years. The five most common cause
The Problem
The world's fastest land animal, the sleek and long-legged cheetah, Acinonyx Jubatus, is losing its race for survival. Once a common animal found on five continents, the cheetah is now an Endangered Species. Loss of habitat, poaching, competition with large predators and ranchers, as well as its own loss of genetic variation, is killing off the remaining cheetahs. Unfortunately, captive breeding efforts have not proven meaningful to the cheetah's hopes of survival. The cheetah needs a large expanse of land to survive, but with the expanding of the human race this area is becoming smaller and smaller. Unfortunately, captive breeding efforts have not proven meaningful to the cheetah's hopes of survival. Cheetahs can reach speeds of over 70 mph, but are extremely clumsy fighters. The result is that although the cheetahs are the best hunters in Africa, they lose much of their prey to the more aggressive predators, such as lions and hyenas. The largest population of cheetahs is in Namibia, which is now growing more independent and democratic. With the country's expansion, the cheetah population is decreasing in size. The Namibian cheetah population has declined by half in the last ten years. Only the "human animal" can save the cheetah from extinction. And that is why the Cheetah Conservation Fund now works in Africa. Why does the Cheetah Lack Genetic Diversity?
The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is the sole member of its genus. Twenty thousand years ago, cheetahs roamed throughout the savannahs and plains of four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. About 10,000 years ago - because of climate changes - all but one species of the cheetah, jubatus, became extinct. With the drastic reduction in their numbers, close relatives were forced to breed, and the cheetah became genetically inbred, meaning all cheetahs are closely related. Inbreeding occurs when members of the same family or close relatives breed only among themselves. For example, when you look around, you see different hair colors, eye colors, and heights. If you took blood from everybody in the room, and looked at the proteins in the blood, you would see proteins also vary between each person, just like hair color. When you look at the proteins in the blood of cheetahs, they are very similar; it looks as if they are identical twins of one another, meaning they are closely related. The study of biological inheritance is called "genetic research." Genes, which are composed of DNA, store the information that an individual inherits from his or her parents. Genes in one animal vary from the same genes in another animal of the same species. By looking at the amount of variation existing in genes, scientists, called "geneticists" can begin to understand the relationships of animals within population, and how infectious diseases may affect that population. Also, by comparing the amount of variation between different species, geneticists can help us understand the evolutionary process. When geneticists looked at the amount of variation within the genes of the cheetah, they found that cheetahs exhibit much lower levels of variation than other mammals. In most species, related individuals share about 80 percent of the same genes. With cheetahs, this figure rises to approximately 99 percent. The genetic inbreeding in cheetahs has led to low survivorship (a large number of animals dying), poor sperm quality, and greater susceptibility to disease. Inbred animals suffer from a lack of genetic diversity. This means cheetahs lack the ability to adjust to sudden changes in the environment, such as disease epidemics, and have unusually high susceptibility to certain viruses. For example, if a virus gets into a healthy population of leopards, not every animal dies; just some do, because leopards are genetically diverse. But if every animal is genetically the same, like the cheetah, and one gets infected, all of them may become infected and die off. Because of their lack of genetic diversity, a deadly virus could wipe out all of the worlds' wild cheetahs instead of just the susceptible animals. It depends on General Information About cheetah
Status Protected species in Namibia. Endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act. List on CITES Appendix I Description The cheetah has a slender, long-legged body with blunt semi-retractile claws. Its coat is tan with small, round, black spots, and the fur is coarse and short. The cheetah has a small head with high-set eyes. Black "tear marks," which run from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth, keep the sun out of its eyes, and aid in hunting. Size Adult body length 112-135 cm; tail length 66-84 cm; shoulder height 73+ cm; weight 34-54 kg. The male is slightly larger than the female. Specializations The cheetah's flexible spine, oversized liver, enlarged heart, wide nostrils, increased lung capacity, and thin muscular body make this cat the swiftest hunter in Africa. Covering 7-8 meters in a stride, with only one foot touching the ground at a time, the cheetah can reach a speed of 110 km/h in seconds. At two points in the stride, no feet touch the ground. Habitat Cheetahs thrive in areas with vast expanses of land where prey is abundant. In Namibia cheetahs have been found in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, savannahs, dense vegetation, and mountainous terrain. Ninety-five percent live on commercial farms. Range Once found throughout Asia and Africa, the species is now only scattered in Iran and various countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Home ranges in Namibia for males can be up to 1500 square km and for females, 1200-1500 square km. Behavior Cheetahs have a unique, well-structured social order. Females live alone except when they are raising cubs. The females raise the cubs on their own. The first 18 months of a cub's life are important - cubs learn many lessons because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey species and avoid other predators such as leopards, lions, hyenas, and baboons. At 18 months, the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a sibling group, that will stay together for another 6 months. At about 2 years, the female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life. Males live alone or in coalitions made up of brothers from the same litter. Some coalitions maintain territories in order to find females with which they will mate. Territories are often located in areas where there is a rich supply of wild game and/or water. Fierce fights between male coalitions, resulting in serious injury or death, can occur when defending territories. Cheetahs hunt in the late morning and early evening. They capture their prey by stalking - until they prey is within 10-30 meters - before chasing. The prey is suffocated when a cheetahs bites the underside of the throat. Chases last about 20 seconds, and rarely longer then 1 minute. About half of the chases are successful. In Namibia, cheetahs use playtrees (trees with sloping trunks and large horizontal limbs, usually camelthorns) to observe their surroundings and mark the area. Cheetahs make chirping sounds, and hiss or spit when angered or threatened. They purr very loudly when content.
Reproduction Sexual maturity occurs at 20-23 months. The gestation period is about 95 days, and the average litter size is 4-5 cubs. Cubs are smoky-grey in color with long hair, called a mantle, running along their backs; they are up to 30 cm long and weigh 250-300 grams at birth. The mantle has several purposes: it is thought to camouflage the cub in dead grass, hiding it from predators, and to work as a mimicry defense, causing the cub to resemble a honey badger (ratel).Population About 12,400 cheetah remain in 25 African countries, and maybe 100-200 cats survive in Iran. Namibia has the world's largest number of cheetahs, yet only 2,500 remain in the wild.
Life Expectancy Studies have not been conducted in the wild on longevity; 8-12 years is average in captivity. Cub mortality is high for the species in both the wild and captivity. An average 30 percent of all cubs born in captivity die within one month of birth, and in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, about 90 percent die before reaching the 3 months of age. Diet Small antelope, young of large antelope, warthog, hare, and game birds. Natural History Cheetahs have been kept in captivity for some 5,000 years. However, they breed poorly, and the captive population has been maintained through wild collection. Cheetahs suffer from a lack of genetic diversity making them more susceptible to disease and decreasing reproduction. The many parks and reserves of Africa offer protection for only a small amount of cheetahs. In these parks, lion and hyena numbers increase, and the cheetahs cannot compete with these large predators which kill cheetah cubs and steal their prey. Evolution has favored speed, and not strength for this species. Survival Threats Decline in prey, loss of habitat, poaching, and indiscriminate trapping and shooting as a livestock predator threaten the survival of the cheetah throughout its range. Legal Protection As a protected species in Namibia, people are allowed to remove cheetahs only if they pose a threat to livestock or human life. Unfortunately, some farmers will capture cheetahs indiscriminately (the "problem" animals may not be singled out), often removing or killing those that have not taken any livestock. Limited international trade in live animals and skins is permitted from Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Illegal trade in other parts of Africa and indiscriminate capture and removal in southern Africa continue to threaten the survival of this species. Conservation To help this sleek hunter of the African wild win its race against extinction, we must: 1. Help protect its habitat and ensure a place for it on Namibian farmlands 2. Aid in the conservation of the wild prey base 3. Halt the indiscriminate capture and removal of the cheetah 4. Improve livestock management 5. Educate everyone about the need to conserve biological diversity, and the predators' unique role in a healthy ecosystem. Captivity CHEETAHS ARE WILD ANIMALS. Capture of wild cheetahs threatens the survival of the species in two ways. First, the removal of individuals reduce the species' genetic diversity in the wild. And secondly, cheetahs do not breed well in captivity. The Asian cheetah is nearly extinct because of its capture for private use. Special dietary requirements, special needs, and unpredictable behavior make this a poor pet. Wild instincts remain intact even with tamed and captive-raised animals. The Cheetah fact sheet The world's fastest land mammal, the cheetah, is the most unique and specialized member of the cat family and can reach speeds of 70 mph. Unlike other cats, the cheetah has a leaner body, longer legs, and has been referred to as the "greyhound" of the cats. It is not an aggressive animal, using flight versus fight. With its weak jaws and small teeth--the price it paid for speed, it cannot fight larger predators to protect its kills or young. The cheetah is often mistaken for a leopard. Its distinguishing marks are the long teardrop-shaped lines on each side of the nose from the corner of its eyes to its mouth. The cheetah's coat is tan, or buff colored, with black spots measuring from 78 to 1.85 inches across. There are no spots on its white belly, and the tail has spots that merge to form four to six dark rings at the end. The tail usually ends in a bushy white tuft. Male cheetahs are slightly larger than females and have a slightly bigger head, but it is difficult to tell males and females apart by appearance alone. The fur of newborn cubs is dark and the spots are blended together and barely visible. During the first few weeks of life, a thick yellowish-gray coat, called a mantle, grows along the cub's back. The dark color helps the cub to blend into the shadows, and the mantle is thought to have several purposes, including acting as a thermostatic umbrella against rain and the sun, and as a camouflage imitating the dry dead grass. The mantle is also thought to be a mimicry defense, causing the cub to resemble a ratel, or honey badger, which is a very vicious small predator that is left alone by most other predators. The mantle begins to disappear at about three months old, but the last traces of it, in the form of a small mane, are still present at over two years of age. The cheetah is aerodynamically built for speed and can accelerate from zero to 40 mph in three strides and to full speed of 70 mph in seconds. As the cheetah runs, only one foot at a time touches the ground. There are two points, in its 20 to 25 foot stride when no feet touch the ground, as they are fully extended and then totally doubled up. Nearing full speed, the cheetah is running at about 3 � strides per second. The cheetah's respiratory rate climbs from 60 to 150 breaths per minute during a high-speed chase and can run only 400 to 600 yards before it is exhausted; at this time it is extremely vulnerable to other predators, which may not only steal its prey, but attack it as well. The cheetah has specialized for speed through many adaptations: It is endowed with a powerful heart, oversized liver, and large, strong arteries. It has a small head, flat face, reduced muzzle length allowing the large eyes to be positioned for maximum binocular vision, enlarged nostrils, and extensive air-filled sinuses. Its body is narrow, lightweight with long, slender feet and legs, and specialized muscles, which act simultaneously for high acceleration, allowing greater swing to the limbs. Its hip and shoulder girdles swivel on a flexible spine that curves up and down, as the limbs are alternately bunched up and then extended when running, giving greater reach to the legs. The cheetah's long and muscular tail acts as a stabilizer or rudder for balance to counteract its body weight, preventing it from rolling over and spinning out in quick, fast turns during a high-speed chase. The cheetah is the only cat with short, blunt semi non-retractable claws that help grip the ground like cleats for traction when running. Their paws are less rounded than the other cats, and their pads are hard, similar to tire treads, to help them in fast, sharp turns. Distribution It has been estimated that in 1900, more than 100,000 cheetahs were found in at least 44 countries throughout Africa and Asia. Today the species is extinct from +20 countries and between 9,000 to 12,000 animals remain, found mostly in small-pocketed populations in 24 to 26 countries in Africa and +200 in Iran. The cheetah is classified as an endangered species, and listed in Appendix I (which includes species that are most threatened) of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Prior to the 20th century, cheetahs were widely distributed throughout Africa and Asia, and were originally found in all suitable habitats from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean, throughout the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East, from Israel to India, and through the southern provinces of the former Soviet Union. Today, the Asian cheetah is nearly extinct, due to a decline of available habitat and prey. The species was declared extinct in India in 1952, and the last reported cheetah was seen in Israel in 1956. Today, the only confirmed reports of the Asian cheetah comes from Iran, where + 200 occur in small isolated populations. Free-ranging cheetahs still inhabit a broad section of Africa, including areas of North Africa, the Sahel, East Africa, and southern Africa. Viable populations may be found in less than half of the countries where cheetahs still exist. These declining populations mean that those cheetah which do survive, come from a smaller, less diverse gene pool. Populations continue to decline from loss of habitat, decline of prey species, and conflict with livestock farming. Throughout Africa, cheetahs are not doing well in protected wildlife reserves due to increased competition from other larger predators, such as lion and hyenas, and most protected areas are unable to maintain viable cheetah populations. Therefore, a large percentage of the remaining cheetah populations are outside of protected reserves, placing them in greater conflict with humans. There are now only two remaining population strongholds: Namibia/Botswana in southern Africa, and Kenya/Tanzania in East Africa. The cheetah's greatest hope for survival lies in the relatively pristine countryside of Namibia, which is home to the world's largest remaining population of cheetah. But even here, the cheetah's numbers have drastically declined by half in the past ten years, leaving an estimated population of less than 2,500 animals. The cheetah is generally considered to be an animal of open country and grass lands. This impression is probably due to the ease of sighting the cheetah in the shorter grass. However, cheetahs use a wider variety of habitats, and are found often in dense vegetation and even mountainous terrain. Since cheetahs rely on sight for hunting, they are diurnal: more active in the day than night. In warm weather, they move around mostly during the early morning and late in the afternoon when the temperatures are cooler. Cheetahs prey on a variety of species from rabbits to small antelope, and the young of larger antelope. Their hunting technique is to stalk as close as possible to the prey, burst into full speed, tripping the prey with a front paw and, as the prey falls, biting it by the throat in a strangulation hold. Cheetahs are more social in their behaviors than once thought. They will live singly or in small groups. Female cheetahs are sexually mature at 20 to 24 months. The mating period lasts from one day up to a week. The female's gestation period is 90 to 95 days, after which she will give birth to a litter of up to 6 cubs. She will find a quiet, hidden spot in the tall grass, under a low tree, in thick underbrush, or in a clump of rock. Cheetah cubs weigh between 9 to 15 ounces when born. Although cheetah cubs are blind and completely helpless at birth, they develop rapidly. At 4 to 10 days of age, their eyes open, and they begin to crawl around the nest area; at 3 weeks their teeth break through their gums. Due to the possibilities of predation from a variety of predators, the female moves her cubs from den to den every few days. For the first 6 weeks, the female has to leave the cubs alone most of the time, in order to hunt. Also, she may have to travel fairly long distances in search of food. During this time, cub mortality is as high as 90 percent in the wild, due to predation. The cubs begin to follow their mother at 6 weeks old, and begin to eat meat from her kills. From this time onward, mother and cubs remain inseparable until weaning age. The cubs grow rapidly and are half of their adult size at 6 months old; at 8 months old, they have lost the last of their deciduous teeth. About this time, the cubs begin to make clumsy attempts at stalking and catching. Much of the learning process takes the form of play behavior. The cubs stalk, chase and wrestle with each other and even chase prey that they know they cannot catch, or prey that is too large. The cubs learn to hunt many different species, including guinea fowl, francolins, rabbits, and small antelope. They still are not very adept hunters at the time they separate from their mothers. The female leaves her cubs when they are between 16 to 18 months old to rebreed, starting the cycle over again. The cubs stay together for several more months, usually until the female cubs reach sexual maturity. At this time, the male cubs are chased away by dominant breeding males. Male cubs stay together for the rest of their lives, forming a coalition. Male coalition is beneficial in helping to acquire and hold territories against rival male cheetahs. Males become reproductively active between 2 and 3 years of age. Cheetah's and humans The cheetah's long association with humans dates back to the Sumerians, about 3,000 BC, where a leashed cheetah, with a hood on its head, is depicted on an official seal. In early Lower Egypt, it was known as the MAFDET cat-goddess and was revered as a symbol of royalty. Tame cheetahs were kept as close companions to pharaohs, as a symbolic protection to the throne. Many statues and paintings of cheetahs have been found in royal tombs, and it was believed that the cheetah would quickly carry away the pharaoh's spirit to the after life. By the 18th and 19th dynasties, paintings indicated that the cheetah rivaled dogs in popularity as hunting companions. The best records of cheetahs having been kept by royalty, from Europe to China, are from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Hunting with cheetahs was not to obtain food, which royalty did not need, but for the challenge of sport. This sport is known as coursing. Adult wild cheetahs were caught, as they already had well developed hunting skills and were tamed and trained within a few weeks. The cheetahs were equipped with a hood, so they could not see the game they were to hunt, and were taken near the prey either on a leash, a cart, or the back of a horse, sitting on a pillow behind the rider. The hood was then removed and the cheetah dashed after the prey, catching it, after which the trainer would reward it with a piece of meat, and then take the cheetah back to the stable where it was kept. Many emperors kept hundreds of cheetahs, at any given time, in their stables. With this great number of cheetahs in captivity, it was recorded only once, by Emperor Jahangir, the son Akbar the Great, an Indian Mogul in the 16th century, that a litter of cubs was born. During his 49-year reign, Akbar the Great had over 9,000 cheetahs, in total, which were called Khasa or the "Imperial Cheetahs," and he kept detailed records on them. All of the cheetahs kept as "hunting leopards" were taken from the wild. Because of this continuous drain on the world populations, the numbers of cheetahs declined throughout Asia. In the early 1900's, India and Iran began to import cheetahs from Africa for hunting purposes. Other Survial Challenges Molecular genetic studies on free-ranging and captive cheetahs have shown that the species lacks genetic variation, probably due to past inbreeding, as long as ten thousand years ago. The consequences of such genetic uniformity have led to reproductive abnormalities, high infant mortality, and greater susceptibility to disease, causing the species to be less adaptable and more vulnerable to ecological and environmental changes. Unfortunately, captive breeding efforts have not proven to be meaningful to the cheetah's hope for survival. The similar experiences of the world's zoos have reaffirmed the traditional difficulties of breeding cheetahs in captivity. Despite the capturing, rearing, and public display of cheetahs for thousands of years, the next reproductive success, after Akbar the Great son's recorded birth of one litter in the 16th century, occurred only in 1956 at the Philadelphia Zoo. Unlike the other 'big cats', which breed readily in captivity, the captive population of cheetahs is not self-sustaining and, thus, is maintained through the import of wild-caught animals, a practice which goes against the goals of today's' zoological institutions. Although reproduction has occurred at many facilities in the world, only a very small percentage of cheetahs have ever reproduced and cub mortality is high. In the absence of further importations of wild-caught animals, the size of the captive population can be expected to decline, a trend, which coupled with the continuing decline of the wild population, leaves the species extremely vulnerable. Conservation Efforts We founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990 to directly confront the above issues and to implement techniques for cheetah conservation in their natural habitat. The CCF is the only fully established, on-site, international conservation effort for the wild cheetah. A permanent base for this long-term effort was established in 1991 in Namibia, Africa-- home to the largest remaining, viable, population of cheetah. CCF's primary mission is to focus on conservatory and management strategies outside of protected parks and reserves. It conducts research, disseminates information, and implements conservation management techniques that will lead to the long-term survival of free-ranging cheetah. The project is directed by Laurie Marker. The over-all objective of CCF is to secure the survival of free-ranging cheetahs in suitable African habitats. The CCF's long-term program focuses on: 1) cheetah research and conservation education; and 2) livestock and wildlife management, education, and training. In Namibia, programs are being developed that can be adapted for use in other African countries. The goal is to develop workable strategies for promoting sustainable cheetah populations, a goal which, in the end, is largely dependant on the willingness and the capacity of individuals and local communities where the cheetahs live. As a part of the long-term program, conservation efforts are being developed through the knowledge gained from the collection of base-line data including: a) the distribution and movements of cheetahs through the Namibian farmlands; b) the problems leading to the continued elimination of the cheetah; c) the assessment of the over-all health of the free-ranging cheetah population; d) the development of livestock farm management practices to reduce conflict with cheetahs; e) the development of livestock/wildlife management and education to sustain a balanced ecosystem that supports wildlife, and cheetah; and f) the adaptation of successful programs to other countries where cheetah are in need. The knowledge gained from this program will reveal the necessary information to employ strategies for the long-term survival of the species in Namibia, and will be significant to the conservation of cheetahs elsewhere in the their native range and contribute to maintenance of captive cheetahs, which are 99% from Namibian stock. Extinction is forever and survival is up to you and me---every last one of us! The Cheetah Conservation Fund is the conduit through which everyone can become involved. Status Protected species in Namibia. Endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act. List on CITES Appendix I Description The cheetah has a slender, long-legged body with blunt semi-retractile claws. It's coat is tan with small, round, black spots, and the fur is coarse and short. The cheetah has a small head with high-set eyes. Black"tear marks," which run from the corner of it's eyes down the sides of the nose to it's mouth, keep the sun out of it's eyes and aid in hunting. Size Adult body length 112-135 cm; tail length 66-84 cm; shoulder height 73+ cm; weight 34-54 kg. The male is slightly larger then the female. Specialisations The cheetah's flexible spine, oversized liver, enlarged heart, wide nostrils, increased lung capacity, and thin muscular body make this cat the swiftest hunter in Africa. Covering 7-8 meters in a stride, with only one foor touching the ground at a time, the cheetah can reach a speed of 110 km/h in seconds. At two points in the stride, no fee touch the ground. Habitat Cheetahs thrive in areas with vast expanses of land where prey is abundant. In Namibia cheetahs have been found in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, savannahs, dense vegetation, and mountainous terrain. Ninety-five percent live on commercial farms. Range Once found throughout Asia and Africa, the species is now only scattered in Iran and various countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Home ranges in Namibia for males can be up to 1500 square km and for females, 1200-1500 square km. Behavior Cheetahs have a unique, well-structured social order. Females live alone except when they are raising cubs. The females raises the cubs on her own. The first 18 months of a cub's life are important - cubs learn many lessons because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey species and avoid other predators such as the leopards, lions, hyenas, and baboons. At 18 months, the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a sibling group, which will stay together for another 6 months. At about 2 years, the female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life. Males live alone or in coalitions made up of brothers from the same litter. Some coalitions maintain territtories in order to find females with which they will mate. Territories are often located in areas where there is a rich supply of wild game and/or water. Fierce fights between male coalitions, resulting in serious injury or death, can occur when defending territories. Cheetahs hunt in the late morning and early evening. They capture their prey by stalking - until they prey is within 10-30 meters - before chasing. The prey is suffocated when a cheetahs bites the underside of the throat. Chases last about 20 seconds, and rarely longer then 1 minute. About half of the chases are successful. In Namibia, cheetahs use playtrees(trees with sloping trunks and large horizontal linbs, usually camelthrons) to observe their surroundings and mark the area. Cheetahs make chirping sounds, and hiss or spit when angered or threated. They purr verly loadly when content. Reproduction Sexual maturity occurs at 20-23 months. The gestation period is about 95 days, and the average litter size is 4-5 cubs. Cubs are smoky-grey in color with long hair, called a mantle, running along their backs; they are up to 30 cm long and weigh 250-300 grams at birth. The mantle has several purposes: it is thought to camouflage the cub in dead grass, hiding it from predators, and to work as a mimcry defense, causing the cub to resember a honey badger(ratel). Population Only 12,400 cheetahs remain in 25 African countries, and 200 cats survive in Iran. Namibia has the worlds largest number of cheetahs, yet only 2,400 remain the wild. Life Expectancy Studies has not been conducted in the wild on longeviy; 8-12 years is average in captivity. Cub mortality is high for the species in both the wild and captivity. On average 30 percent of all cubs born in captivity die within one month of birth, and in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, about 90 percent die before reaching 3 months of age. Diet Small antelope, young of large antelope, warhog, hare, and game birds. Natural History Cheetahs have been kept in captivity for some 5,000 years. However, they breed poorly, and the captive population has been maintained through wild collection. Cheetah suffer from a lack of genetic diversity making them more susceptible to disease and decreasing reproduction. The many parks and reserves of Africa offer protection for only a small amount of cheetahs. In these parks, lion and hyena numbers increase, and the cheetahs cannot compete with these large predators which kill cheetah cubs and steal their prey. Evolution hass favored speed, and not strengh for this species. Survival Threats Decline in prey, loss of habitat, poaching, and indiscrimnate trapping and shooting as a livestock predator threaten the survival of the cheetah throughout it's range. Legal Protection As a protected species in Namibia, people are allowed to remove cheetahs only if they pose a threat to livestock or human life. Unfortunately, some farmers will capture cheetahs indiscriminatly (the "problem" animals may not be singled out), often removing or killing those that have not taken any livestock. Limited international trade in live animals and skins is permitted from Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswanna. Illegal trade in other parts of Africa and indiscriminate capture and removal in southern Africa continue to threaten the survival of this species. Conservation To help this sleek hunter of the African wild win it's race against extinction, we must: 1. Help Protect it's Habitat and Insure a Place for it on Namibian Farmlands 2. Aid in the Conservation of the Wild Prey Base 3. Halt the Indiscriminate Capture and Removal of the Cheetah 4. Improve Livestock Management 5. Educate Everyone about the need to conserve biological diversity, and the predators' unique role in a healthy ecosystem. Captivity CHEETAHS ARE WILD ANIMALS. Capture of wild cheetahs threatens the survival of the species in two ways. First, the removal of individuals reduces the species' genetic diversity in the wild. And secondly, cheetahs do not breed well in captivity. The Asian cheetah is nearly extinct because of it's capture for private use. Special dietary requiremnts, special needs, and unpredictable behavior make this a poor pet. Wild instincts remain intact even with tamed and captive raised animals. Race of Survial Cheetahs have existed on earth for at least three-and-a-half to four million years - long before any of the other big cats that are alive today. About 20,000 years ago, cheetahs were common throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Through the dating of fossil remains, it appears that the cheetah originated in the United States of America in the present-day states of Nevada, Texas, and Wyoming. Approximately 10,000 years ago, at the end of a time called the Pleistocene Epoch also known as the Great Ice Age (a geographical time period from approximately 2 million to 10,000 years ago), the world's environment underwent drastic changes in climate. Over a few thousand years, 75 percent of the mammal species in North America, and Europe died. When mammals began to die, so did all the cheetahs in North America and Europe and most of those in Asia and Africa. Cheetahs may have migrated to more suitable environment as ice covered a large part of the northern hemisphere and sea levels fell. The cheetah survived the mass extinction of the Pleistocene Epoch, but its numbers were greatly reduced. Brothers were left to reproduce with sisters and parents with siblings, which led to the founding of the next generation, and inbreeding took place. This occurrence - a severe reduction in population - is called a "bottleneck." Every cheetah alive today appears to be so inbred that genetically they are as closely related as twins (two offspring, or individuals born at the same birth). Cheetahs have been kept in captivity since 3,000 BC when Sumerians, people who lived in present-day Iraq, began taming cheetahs for pets. In Egypt, during the time of the pharaohs, the cheetah was considered a goddess named "Mafdet." Pharaohs kept cheetahs as close companions, which symbolized protection by Mafdet. Symbols of the cheetah are found on ritual and magic knives, statues, and in paintings on royal tombs. The ancient Egyptians believed that the cheetah would carry the Pharaoh's soul to the afterworld. The cheetah was admired for its speed, hunting ability, and beauty, and was honored as a symbol of royalty and prestige. As early as the fifth century, cheetahs were used by Italian nobles to hunt for sport. Adult cheetahs were caught in the wild, and tamed within a few months of capture. With their heads covered by a hood so they could not see the prey, cheetahs were led to the hunting area on a leash, in a cart, or on the back of a horse, sitting on a pillow behind the rider. The cheetah was taken near the prey, and the hood was removed. It then sprinted after the prey, and after catching it, the trainer rewarded the cheetah with a piece of meat. Cheetahs were commonly known as "hunting leopards," as people often confused the cheetah and the leopard, considering them the same species. The use of this term may account for some of the confusion between the differences in the two cats - the cheetah and the leopard are two distinct species. Russian princes in the 11th and 12th centuries also hunted with cheetahs. During the Renaissance (the time period from the 14th through the 16th centuries), every Italian family of nobility and many French nobles kept cheetahs for hunting. The crusaders observed cheetahs being used to hunt gazelles in Syria and Palestine during this time. Marco Polo, the famous Italian explorer, brought back accounts of the hundreds of cheetahs kept by Kublai Khan, the Founder of the Mongol dynasty in China, during the 13th century. Akbar, a Mongolian ruler of the 16th century, was said to have owned 9,000 cheetahs during his 49-year reign. He kept detailed records of his collection, which showed the birth of only one litter. Unfortunately, cheetahs do not reproduce well in captivity, and cubs suffer high mortality - none of Akbar's cubs lived. It was not until 1956, that the first cheetahs were born and raised in captivity. Because of the continuous wild capture of the Asian species of cheetahs for royalty and their failure to breed in captivity, the Asiatic cheetahs were sharply reduced, and cheetahs had to be exported from Africa to supply hunting cheetahs at Court. In India, the cheetah was considered a prerequisite for royalty - in 1952 it was declared extinct. The Asian cheetah, which was distributed widely throughout the continent in eleven countries, is now nearly extinct. Today only 200 cheetahs are found in Asia, in the country of Iran. The number of cheetahs has decreased from 100,000 at end of the 19th century to aproximately 12,500 today. The cheetah has suffered from inbreeding, high infant morality, loss of habitat, a reduction in its prey base, conflicts with livestock farming, and a reduced ability to survive in parks and reserves due to the presence of larger predators. Yet, despite all these problems, the cheetah is the oldest of the big cats, and has survived the longest. If we can provide a habitat and a rich prey-base for cheetahs on the livestock farmlands of southern Africa, the cheetah's race will be one of survival, not extinction. http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=aboutcheetah-08