Their oversized respiratory tract and nasal passages take up too much room in the cheetah's skull for their jaw to accommodate large teeth. And the energy surges that give them their speed give off lactic acid that leaves the cheetah with painful cramps after just 30 seconds at top speed.
In the s, researchers made a startling discovery about cheetahs, who were known to be difficult to breed and prone to illness in zoos: they were all virtually clones of one another.
Almost the entire genetic makeup of any one cheetah mirrored the genetic makeup of every other cheetah. Scientists deduced that the onset of the last ice age had decimated the cheetah population, leaving the few remaining animals to interbreed.
The shrunken gene pool means that, even now, cheetahs have abnormally low fertility and are prone to birth defects that makes conservation efforts particularly crucial. Combined with a loss of habitat to humans and stiff competition with even bigger big cats for dwindling food supplies, cheetah numbers have been decreasing for about a century.
Female cheetahs leave their families at around 2 years old to roam and hunt alone in territories that stretch up to miles. Males, on the other hand, often remain in a group with their brothers, even after maturity. This facilitates the cheetah breeding practices, which—contrary to much of the animal kingdom—consists of females choosing their mates. Marker has maintained the International Cheetah Studbook since its inception Chapter The SSP brought collaborative research and management to the forefront and helped develop comprehensive plans to conserve captive and wild cheetahs.
Here, the Cheetah SSP designated the US captive cheetah population as a research population Grisham and Lindburg, , and the first systematic research plan was designed and implemented.
The initial 3-year, multidisciplinary research project provided a basic understanding of cheetah biology and was a critical step in forming conservation strategies for ex situ populations. Its results appeared in a special edition of Zoo Biology Wildt and Grisham, Louis Zoological Gardens; Dr.
C Cheetah census workshop meeting participants in Tanzania. In , photographer and tour guide David Drummond reintroduced 3 orphaned cheetah cubs in the Maasai Mara National Reserve Drummond, Drummond was one of the first to present the issues of poaching, wildlife interactions, and challenges of pastoral communities in terms of predators. In , Dr. Tim Caro and his students continued the longitudinal study of cheetah behavior initiated by the Frames in the Serengeti National Park.
Sarah Durant, making it the longest-running cheetah research project. Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains: Group Living in an Asocial Species Caro, has been the primary reference book on cheetah behavioral ecology since its publication. During the same time frame, Hamilton studied the ecology of cheetahs in sub-Saharan Africa.
His findings showed that, albeit in low densities, cheetahs were persisting even in areas where they were predicted to be extinct due to rising human populations. He reported cheetahs to be remarkably successful predators, well adapted to coexistence with nomadic pastoralists in arid and semiarid lands over large areas Hamilton, At the end of the s there was little understanding of the population distribution or the ecology and biology of healthy, free-ranging cheetahs outside of protected areas.
In the s, Paula Gros undertook cheetah population surveys in East Africa Gros, , Gros, , Gros, , Gros and Rejmanek, and provided a rich insight into population distribution.
Marker began working with Dieter Morsbach, research scientist from the Namibian Ministry of the Environment MET , and the livestock farming communities who were trapping and killing high numbers of cheetahs each year Chapter In an extensive survey of Namibian rural farming communities provided a better understanding of the threats to the cheetah and the techniques employed to prevent livestock depredation by cheetahs Marker-Kraus et al.
This community survey—along with health, disease, reproduction, genetic, and ecological surveys on Namibian cheetahs—provided the groundwork for many cheetah-range country programs Marker et al. In , CCF launched the first of many African livestock guarding dog programs in cooperation with Dr. In addition, they developed a livestock guarding-dog program and work closely with livestock farmers to help reduce conflict. In , an international research collaboration between the Namibian MET, a SSP research team, and CCF initiated the investigation of links between reproductive traits, nutrition, and diet.
At the same time, reproductive research on cheetah males was being conducted at a few zoos in the United States Wildt and Grisham, and in South Africa at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Center Bertschinger et al. Data on the basic biology of the female cheetah took longer to complete, with the first results in bringing insight into ovarian development and reproductive cycling Crosier et al.
Linda Munson, cheetah SSP veterinarian pathologist, trained Namibian veterinarians and field biologists in systematic sample collection and assisted in developing sample collection research protocols that led to long term, collaborative global disease studies Chapter The workshop provided a platform for Namibian farmers, wildlife officials, international scientists, and other stakeholders and set forth a strategy for managing cheetahs in Namibia while addressing issues affecting neighboring cheetah-range countries Berry et al.
The first comprehensive conservation plan for managing the wild Namibian cheetah Berry et al. The new millennium saw the development and expansion of cheetah conservation programs and new areas of research.
In , the Kenyan government and its citizens voiced concern about the decline of their cheetah population. The decline was attributed to a reduction in wild prey caused by poaching and the transition from large, collective ranches to smaller farms Chapter 11 , and also to habitat fragmentation Chapter Although cheetahs had been photographed extensively in the Maasai Mara Ammann and Ammann, , Scott and Scott, , there was no cheetah conservation work being undertaken in the country.
In , following long-term cheetah studies from Vivian Wilson, in Zimbabwe, a cheetah conservation program was developed under the leadership of Netty Purchase, the carnivore project coordinator from the Marwell Zimbabwe Trust, and Verity Bowman from the Dambari Trust.
Bettina Wachter. CCB developed an administration and education base at Mokolodi Nature Reserve near Gaborone, followed by a field station, model farm, and education center on farmland near Ghanzi. In addition to the afore-mentioned cheetah projects, several carnivore projects have put a strong emphasis on cheetah conservation. Over 50 people from 11 countries attended the workshop in South Africa presenting on in situ and ex situ cheetah research Fig.
Working groups convened to discuss census research, protection of cheetahs outside protected areas, education and communication, and health and viability of the ex situ population.
The findings provided the basis for the first Global Cheetah Action Plan that helped link research initiatives and enhance collaborations Bartels et al.
Keeping the momentum, a second GCF took place in The highest priority was completing a census of free-ranging cheetahs to determine how and where range-wide conservation efforts could be implemented Bartels et al. In addition, the Forum members determined that conservation education and training programs should continue to be a top priority in range countries Chapter Following this meeting in , cheetah conservation organizations and representatives of the South African farming community met formally for the first time and developed the National Cheetah Conservation Forum NCCF.
Led by a team from the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre, EWT, several universities, the National Research Foundation, the Agricultural Research Council and other governmental institutions, new research and conservation initiatives were launched, including a census of the South African cheetah populations. The cheetah populations on these game reserves needed to be artificially connected through animal movement. To achieve this, the cheetah metapopulation strategy was launched in , and is managed by the EWT.
In addition, these private reserves allowed for additional ecological studies on cheetah in these protected areas Chapter 8. Christine Breitenmoser. The aims were to assess and evaluate accomplishments in the southern African region and to set new objectives. Key determinations appeared in a special issue of Cat News Breitenmoser and Breitenmoser, It is a web-based communication tool that houses a library of information, data, documents, maps, and other material relevant to the conservation of the cheetah.
Sarah Durant and Rosie Woodruff. Drawing on regional plans, national workshops developed country-specific plans in many cheetah-range states Chapter The lack of local capacity was a key finding of regional plans.
Buffett Foundation and the RWCP, trained more than government wildlife officials, university professors, scientists, conservation managers, conservation NGO officers, and community extension officers from 15 cheetah-range countries between and The aim of the courses was to teach research techniques Chapters 29— and to promote a unified and systematic approach to cheetah research and conservation Marker and Boast, They are not obligate drinkers and, in the Kalahari desert, have been estimated to travel an average of 82 km between drinks of water.
They were observed to satisfy their moisture requirements by drinking the blood or urine of their prey, or by eating tsama melons. Males are very sociable and group together for life, usually with the brothers from the same litter; although if a cub is the only male in the litter then two or three lone males may group up, or a lone male may join an existing group.
These groups are called coalitions. A coalition is six times more likely to obtain a territory than a lone male, although studies have shown that lone males keep their territories just as long as coalitions - four to four and a half years.
Males are very territorial. Females' home ranges can be very large and trying to build a territory around several females' ranges is impossible to defend. Instead, males choose the points at which several of the females' home ranges overlap, creating a much smaller space, which can be properly defended against intruders while maximizing the chance of reproduction.
Coalitions will try their utmost to maintain territories in order to find females with which they will mate. The size of the territory also depends on the available resources; depending on the part of Africa, the size of a male's territory can vary greatly from 37 to km2.
Males mark their territory by urinating on objects that stand out, such as trees, logs, or termite mounds. The whole coalition contributes to the scent. Males will attempt to kill any intruders and fights often result in serious injury or death.
Unlike males and other felines, females do not establish territories. Instead, the area they live in is termed a home range. These overlap with other females' home ranges; often it will be the sisters from the same litter or a daughter's home range overlapping with her mother's. Females, however, always hunt alone, although once their cubs reach the age of five to six weeks they take them along to show them how it is done.
The size of a home range depends entirely on the availability of prey. Cheetahs in African woodlands have ranges as small as 34 km2, while in some parts of Namibia they can reach 1, km2. Although there have been no studies, it is expected that the home ranges of females in the Sahara are the largest of all the cheetah populations.
The cheetah is a carnivore , eating mostly mammals under 40 kilograms, including Thomson's Gazelle and Impala s. Wildebeests and calves are preyed upon when cheetahs hunt in groups. Guineafowl and hares are also hunted. While the other big cats mainly hunt by night, the cheetah is a diurnal hunter. It hunts usually either early in the morning or later in the evening when it is not so hot, but there is still enough light - the cheetah hunts by vision rather than by scent.
Prey is stalked to within metres ft , then chased. The chase is usually over in less than a minute, and if the cheetah fails to make a quick catch, it will often give up rather than waste energy. Another reason the cheetah may give up is because running at such high speeds puts a great deal of strain on the cheetah's body. When sprinting, the cheetah's body temperature becomes so high that it would be deadly to continue - this is why the cheetah is often seen resting even after it has caught its prey.
If it is a hard chase, it sometimes needs to rest for half an hour or more. Roughly half of the chases are successful. The cheetah kills its prey by tripping it during the chase, then biting it on the underside of the throat to suffocate it, for the cheetah is not strong enough to break the necks of the gazelles it mainly hunts. The bite may also puncture a vital artery in the neck. Then the cheetah proceeds to devour its catch as quickly as possible before the kill is taken by stronger predators.
Females reach sexual maturity within twenty to twenty-four months, and males around twelve months although they do not usually mate until at least three years old , and mating occurs throughout the year. Females give birth to up to nine cubs after a gestation period of ninety to ninety-eight days, although the average litter size is three to five. Cubs weigh from to grams at birth. Unlike some other cats, the cheetah is born with its characteristic spots. Cubs are also born with a downy underlying fur on their necks, called a mantle, extending to mid-back.
This gives them a mane or Mohawk-type appearance. Is is thought to camouflage the cub in dead grass and hiding it from predators; this fur is shed as the cheetah grows older. It has been speculated that this mane gives a cheetah cub the appearance of the Ratel , to scare away potential aggressors.
Cubs leave their mother between thirteen and twenty months after birth. The cheetah can live over twenty years, but its life is often short, for it loses its speed with old age. The cheetah has a unique, well-structured social order. Females live alone except when they are raising cubs and they raise their cubs on their own.
The first eighteen 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.
At eighteen months, the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a sibling , or 'sib', group, that will stay together for another six months. At about two years, the female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life. Life span is up to twelve years in wild, but up to twenty years in captivity. Over the past few years, the impact of infectious diseases on endangered species has become well known. Cheetahs are known to be very susceptible to several feline diseases, and are possibly more vulnerable to such diseases due to the lack of heterogeneity in the population.
In addition, captive populations world-wide have been known to have a high prevalence of unusual diseases that are rare in other species, and these diseases impede the goal of maintaining self-sustaining populations. Although the specific causes of these diseases are not known, the character of these diseases implicate stress as an important underlying factor, and genetic predisposition and diet are possible confounding factors. While it is assumed that these diseases did not historically affect wild populations, there is concern that these diseases may arise in wild animals that are trapped, held in captive facilities and translocated.
Additionally, there is concern that cheetahs may transmit or acquire infectious diseases through these actions. During his year reign as an Indian Mogul in the 16 th century, Akbar the Great had more than 39, cheetahs in total, which were called Khasa or the Imperial Cheetahs, and he kept detailed records of them. The animal probably lived some time between 2.
Luke Hunter, executive director of Panthera, an organization that aims to conserve the world's wild cats, called the new find "extremely exciting stuff. Tom Rothwell of the Paris Hill Cat Hospital in New York, a specialist on ancient cats and dogs, agrees that the new skull is a "major find," though he cautions that it's difficult to declare it a new species. Cheetahs are the fastest land animals, capable of reaching speeds of 75 mph kph , but they are not good climbers, unlike others in the cat family — Felidae.
Still they are carnivores, like the other big cats. Today, cheetahs live primarily in Africa in the wild. Their status is threatened worldwide.
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