Cheetah Sanctuary at Nyaru Game Reserve South African

Introduction to the Cheetah

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, we can all learn how 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:
Loss of habitat and prey to commercial farming and development
Prosecution by farmers as vermin or livestock-killing problem animals
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 also 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, over six billion people live on the planet.

Extinction is a natural process. For hundreds of millions of years, plants and animals have become extinct. But the current rate of extinction is something new and radical. 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 causes of extinction created through human involvement are:

Destruction of habitat for development and to obtain lumber, minerals, oil, and other products

Introduction of exotic species into new habitats

Pollution
Overuse of animals and plants through collecting, hunting, or poaching
Use of animals and plant products for religious beliefs
The cheetahs' survival depends on people and our ability to manage the wild population and protect its habitat.

When people destroy habitat by constructing buildings or grazing livestock, for example, they prevent nearly all animal populations from surviving there, both in the present, as well as the future. Animals compete poorly with humans for space. Humans normally change the environment very rapidly; animals cannot always adjust to these changes or adapt quickly enough. Large predators like the cheetah need large areas in which to roam; they usually are not found close together in great numbers. Loss of habitat and a limited geographical range (a small area in which to live) threaten the cheetah's survival. Low survivorship (few cheetahs live long or do not become adults) also affects cheetahs and makes them more vulnerable to human competition. High cub mortality, up to 90% in the wild, along with high adult motality by indiscriminate killing by farmers, makes it difficult for the cheetah to recover when its population size decreases. Helping predator species survive in spite of competition from people is one aspect of wildlife conservation. Loss of habitat and prey base, competition with large predators and agricultural interests, and poaching are taking a heavy toll on wild cheetah populations throughout Africa. Today, there are fewer than 12,500 of these endangered cats remaining in Africa and Asia. The vast majority of cheetahs live in small, isolated groups outside protected game reserves where they are often in conflict with humans and livestock, and most populations continue to decline. The largest wild population of cheetahs is found in Namibia. In the 1980s their numbers were reduced by half to less than 2500. Lack of genetic variation, reproduction abnormalities, high infant mortality, and a great susceptibility to disease place the species at a further risk of extinction. Genetic variation allows species to adapt better to environmental and ecological changes and to fight off diseases.

While cheetahs were once found all over Africa, they are now endangered in most of their former ranges. Cheetahs do not pose a threat to human life. People have carried on the campaign against cheetahs because they believe cheetahs wantonly kill livestock as well as other animals, such as small or young antelopes, causing excessive economic loss. In reality, the amount of damage to domestic stock is exaggerated and is usually caused by a limited number of livestock-preying cats, or "problem" animals, and inadequate livestock practices. Despite these problems, cheetahs do have a chance for survival on the vast farmlands of southern Africa.

Humans share this earth with up to 33 million animals, plants and other life forms. The diversity of life on our planet is amazing. All species - plants, mammals, insects, and invertebrates - depend on one another. People depend on many different plants and animals for food and medicines. Cheetahs are only one of 33 million species living on the planet. Does it really matter if the cheetah becomes extinct? It is tempting to think that the loss of only one species will not affect us. But we must remember that all things are connected and explore how important cheetahs are in their ecosystem. When we lose even one species, our world becomes a poorer place to live. The cheetah deserves a place on this earth. The cat has been revered by humans for almost 5,000 years. If it is lost to future generations, it would leave a large hole not only in nature, but also in the very psyche of the human mind, which so naturally feels and knows the uniqueness of this creature. Namibia, with its varied ecosystems and diversity of life, poses the greatest hope for the cheetah's future.

Youth education and understanding are paramount to helping the sleek hunter of Africa win its race for survival. The ultimate success of the Cheetah Conservation Fund's education program depends on us all, but especially those of you who are teachers and students. By supporting our work you become part of an international effort to save this endangered species. Together we can work to conserve our world's rich biological diversity. By participating in environmental education, you become someone who cares for our land, its wildlife, and the future your students will inherit. There is a CCF teachers' resource guide available for purchase. It contains sections on life sciences, social studies, English, math, physical education and the arts. We hope it will help you motivate students to think critically about individual and communal efforts to conserve wildlife, and to act constructively to improve our world's environment.

Note regarding Namibia's Cheetah Popluation Changes 1980's-1990's: In Namibia, there was a drastic decline of the cheetah population in the 1980's where the population was halved in a 10 year period, leaving an estimated population of less than 2,500 animals at the beginning of the 1990's when CCF began its work with the farming community. Since that time, a gradual change has occurred within Namibia and over the last couple of years the population has stabilized. CCF's research has shown that farmers have more tolerance for cheetahs and are killing less, and those that are being killed are linked to livestock losses, or that they are calling CCF to help them.

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.