Experts Worried About Decline In Cheetah Numbers
It’s no secret that many wildlife species in Africa are experiencing population declines. However, conservationists are particularly worried about the cheetah, the fastest land animal on the planet. It is estimated that there are about 7,100 cheetahs living in the wild, spread out across Africa and in a tiny sliver in Iran. The sad reality however is humans have been encroaching on their historic habitat pushing them out of 91 per cent of land they previously used to roam in.
Status needs to be redefined
A new study says that the cheetah’s status should be defined as “endangered” rather than the less serious “vulnerable” on the IUCN official watch list of globally threatened species. Sarah Durant an expert on the cheetah at the Zoological Society of London who was is also lead author of the report says this period is crunch time for species that require lots of land to roam around in such as cheetah’s.
The species is not protected
According to the results of the study, 77 per cent of the habitat’s cheetah’s roam around in fall outside wildlife reserves or other protected areas. This means governments and villages alike need to be educated to protect a carnivore that sometimes feed on livestock. Aside from the loss of their habitat, cheetahs are often attacked by villagers angry at the loss of antelopes or other prey that are killed by people for their meat. They are also poached for their skins and baby cheetah cubs are often taken for illegal trafficking.
No certainty on population
The vast majority of the world’s cheetahs live in Southern Africa where human populations tend to be relatively sparse. The species has been completely wiped out in Asia aside from 50 cats that live in Iran. Ms Durant says there was no certainty on the estimate of 7,100 cheetahs living in the wild. The estimate is based on data from experts in areas where cheetahs are known to live as well as other areas. Cheetahs are hard to find because they roam throughout vast regions.
Some protection measures being taken
Zimbabwe’s cheetah population fell from an estimated 1,500 in 1999 to between 150 and 170 according to the results of a survey that was conducted between 2013 and 2015. Angola is in the process of developing a strategy to protect cheetahs and African wild dogs that may yield more reliable data for the species in a country that produces relatively thin data. Despite habitat loss throughout Africa Kenya’s Mara area and the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania still provide sanctuary for the cheetah.
