Cheetahs are incredible predators. They face several threats in nature and need to be preserved.
Cheetahs are amongst the most incredible animals on earth. Built for
great speed, Cheetahs are specialists when it comes to hunting fast,
agile prey animals in broad daylight. Capable of reaching from zero to
hundred kilometers an hour within a matter of seconds, these cats have
evolved into developing a sleek and slender physique that aids them in
their highly specialized lifestyle. Whilst a long and thin body enables
Cheetahs to be fast and athletic, this also means that they are lighter
and weaker when it comes to conflicts with other large predators of
Africa, including lions, hyenas and leopards. The bigger animals waste
no opportunity to steal a Cheetah's kill or kill its cubs.
Cheetahs
face other threats too. The most significant ones in the last few
decades have been conflicts with human and loss of habitat. As human
population and development increases in Africa, Cheetahs are finding it
increasingly difficult to survive and take down their normal prey
animals. As a result, they often go after herds of cattle owned by
farmers. This brings them into conflict with people who at times shoot
the big cats in retaliation.
Then there is the problem of limited
genetic diversity in Cheetahs. Cheetahs have evolved from a relatively
restricted gene pool and face multiple biological threats owing to
this. They are susceptible to diseases and genetic defects and infant
mortality is high. As a result Cheetahs are the most endangered of the
three big cats in Africa.
There are a handful of Asiatic Cheetahs
in Iran too and research is being conducted to preserve them in their
natural habitat. It remains to be soon, though if the successful
efforts of Cheetah Conservation Fund can be replicated to help save the
beautiful cats there. The need above all is to better educate the
natives, in parts where Cheetahs coexist with humans around the world.
