Cheetah
They are a lightly built spotted cat characterised with a small rounded head, a short muzzle, black tear-like facial streaks, a deep chest, long thin legs and a long tail. Its slender, canine form contrasts sharply with the robust build of the big cats. The coat is covered with numerous round, evenly spaced solid black spots on a tawny to creamy white or pale buff background. Each cheetah has a distinct pattern of spots that can be used to uniquely identify individuals. The chin, throat and the posterior are white and devoid of spots.
Cheetahs typically reach 67–94 cm at the shoulder; the head-and-body length is 1–1.5 m. The weight can vary with age, health, location, sex and subspecies; adults typically range between 20-60 kg. Cubs born in the wild weigh 150–300 g at birth, while those born in captivity tend to be larger and weigh around 500 g; the weight keeps increasing till the cheetah turns four to six years old. There are 4
subspecies; Asiatic cheetah, Northeast African cheetah, Northwest African cheetah and Southeast African cheetah
Habitat
Cheetahs occur in a variety of habitats; areas with greater availability of prey, good visibility and minimal chances of encountering larger predators are preferred. It was suggested that though the forested area was unsuitable for hunting, females preferred woodlands to encounter more impala. Male coalitions, on the other hand, shunned dense habitats and spent most of the time in open savannahs.
An open area with some cover, such as diffused bushes, is probably ideal for the cheetah because it needs to stalk and pursue its prey over a distance, exploiting its speed. Complete lack of cover, however, can be a cause of prey loss and mortality. Cheetahs in eastern and southern Africa occur mostly in savannas such as the Kalahari and Serengeti. In central, northern and western Africa cheetahs inhabit arid mountain ranges and valleys; in the harsh climate of Sahara, cheetahs prefer high mountains, which receive more rainfall than the surrounding desert. The vegetation and water resources in these mountains supports antelopes. Iranian cheetahs occur in the hilly terrain of deserts at elevation up to 2,000–3,000 m, where annual precipitation is generally below 100 mm; the primary vegetation in these areas is thinly distributed shrubs, less than 1 m tall.
Diet
Cheetahs are carnivores. They feed mainly upon gazelles while small and medium-sized ungulates such as impalas are a good complement to their usual diet. When there’s a shortage of suitable food, these animals can also consume small species such as hares or birds.
Breeding
They have a polygynous mating system, where a male mates with multiple females. In addition, male cheetahs associate with females only for mating and do not provide parental care. These animals breed all year round. The period of gestation lasts about three months, after which 2-5 cubs are born. Newborn babies are blind, being completely vulnerable. Over the following few months, the cubs are breastfed until they start eating meat. Soon the young start to accompany their mother during the hunt in order to watch and learn hunting skills. Also, they learn hunting techniques while playing with their siblings. The cubs live with their mother until they are able to hunt independently. Then, between the age of 18 months and 2 years, they leave to find their own territory. Female cheetahs reach sexual maturity at 21-22 months old.
Population
The global population of cheetahs is currently decreasing, and on the IUCN Red List, the species is classified as Vulnerable (VU). The cheetah population in Africa is around 6.674 mature individuals. In addition, about 60-100 cheetahs live in small isolated populations in Iran.
Threats
The major threats to cheetahs’ population include diseases, habitat loss, hunting and direct persecution. These animals are persecuted by farmers due to being predators, hunting on livestock. Development of tourism in the areas of their habitat can become another serious threat: tourist vehicles can drive the cheetahs away from their kills and separate cubs from their mother. The cheetahs are known to have extremely low genetic variation, which makes the survival of this species even more difficult.
Conservation
The low density of Cheetah throughout their range, means they require conservation action on a scale that is seldom seen in terrestrial conservation. This includes transboundary cooperation, land use planning across large landscapes to maintain habitat connectivity, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. Most Cheetah range (76%) is on unprotected lands where they are often persecuted in retaliation for livestock or game depredation. They are protected under national legislation throughout most of its extant and some of its former range. However, a number of countries permit Cheetahs to be killed in defence of life and livestock, as part of their problem animal control regulations (Purchase et al. 2007). There is very rarely any systematic monitoring of how many animals are killed in this way. Moreover, in some countries the retention of Cheetah parts, such as skin, may be permitted in these operations, which may provide additional incentives for animal removals. In Africa, nearly all range states are actively involved with the Range Wide Conservation Program for Cheetah and African Wild Dogs (RWCP), which has supported them in the development of regional strategies and national conservation action plans using the IUCN SSC strategic planning process. Cheetah and Wild Dog are combined in this process because of their similar low densities, large space needs and ecological requirements. This also increases leverage for conservation action by way of delivering impacts for two threatened species for the price of one. There are three regional strategies in place for Africa covering all of the Cheetah range: Eastern Africa; Southern Africa; and Western, Central and Northern Africa.
As well as providing a regional framework, these strategies also provide a framework for national conservation action planning. They are used within national conservation action planning workshops that allow broad regional commitments to be tailored to the specific policy and legislative environments within each range state. National conservation action plans are in place for most range states (dates of the planning workshop in brackets): Kenya (2007), Botswana (2007), Ethiopia (2010), South Sudan (2009), Zambia (2009), Zimbabwe (2009), South Africa (2009), Benin (2014), Niger (2012); Chad (2015); Tanzania (2013); Mozambique (2010); Namibia (2013). In addition, Cheetah is covered in Uganda’s Large Carnivore National Conservation Action Plan (2010). These 15 action plans cover all or part of 26 of the 27 known Cheetah subpopulations and 67% of known Cheetah range (the majority of the remaining range is in Algeria). Each national conservation action plan is published by the range state wildlife authority and represents each state’s commitment to Cheetah (and Wild Dog) conservation. The strategies and action plans provide a road map for reversing ongoing declines in Cheetah populations using a holistic approach that addresses both the proximate threats as well as the ultimate drivers of these threats (see Threats). While there are some differences between individual plans and strategies, they broadly all address objectives to improve national capacity for Cheetah conservation and management; raise awareness of and political commitment to cheetah conservation; promote human Cheetah coexistence; improve land use planning and reduce habitat fragmentation; improve policy and legislation, and address Cheetah conservation information needs. Local and national projects and NGOs are critical to this process, as well as governments, and the implementation of the plans and strategies are overseen by three regional co-ordinators. There are also a number of different projects and/or NGOs established across southern and eastern Africa that are either dedicated specifically to the conservation and research of Cheetah, or to the guild of large carnivores. Many of these projects carry out important site-based conservation activities that benefit Cheetah, and some also provide support for capacity development of national wildlife authorities. There are no long-term initiatives in northern, western or central Africa, but there are some new developments in this region.