What is the conservation status of the Cheetah?

The Cheetah is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

Where is the Cheetah found?

The Cheetah is found in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, South Sudan, Somalia, Algeria, Niger, Iran.

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) — Conservation Status & How to Help

About the Cheetah

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest land animal on Earth, capable of reaching speeds up to 70 mph (112 km/h) in short bursts, and the only wild cat that cannot fully retract its claws, a trait that gives it the grip of a sprinter. Found primarily across sub-Saharan Africa, with a small and critically fragile population of fewer than 50 individuals persisting in Iran, cheetahs occupy open grasslands, savannas, and scrub forests where their speed and daylight hunting habits set them apart from other large felids.

As a mid-level apex predator, the cheetah regulates populations of medium-sized ungulates such as Thomson's gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) and impala (Aepyceros melampus), helping to prevent overgrazing on the landscapes it shares with lions and leopards. The IUCN Red List estimates fewer than 7,000 mature individuals remain in the wild, with populations declining across most of their range due to habitat fragmentation, conflict with livestock farmers, illegal trafficking of cubs for the exotic pet trade, and the loss of prey species to bushmeat hunting.

Things worth knowing

Unlike most big cats, cheetahs are largely diurnal, hunting primarily in the early morning and late afternoon to avoid competition with nocturnal predators such as lions and leopards.
The black 'tear marks' running from the inner corner of each eye to the mouth are thought to reduce sun glare and sharpen the cheetah's focus on prey during a chase.
Cheetah cubs have a distinctive silvery-grey mantle of longer fur along their backs, which researchers believe may mimic the appearance of the honey badger (Mellivora capensis) to deter predators.
The Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), confined to Iran, is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN and represents one of the rarest mammals on the planet.
Cheetahs have an unusually low genetic diversity compared to most wild mammals, a bottleneck believed to have occurred at the end of the last Ice Age, which makes the species more vulnerable to disease.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2016 found that cheetahs occupy only about 9% of their historical range, with significant populations now outside protected areas.

Cheetah

Things worth knowing

0 organizations protect the Cheetah