Re: Cheetahs & Prism Magazine

Ok so I was just posting this as a comment to Sian's post below but it got too long.

The reason this got sooolong is because of the cheetahs (and also because I talk too much).

I dont know if you guys know this (Sian maybe they told you this when you saw them?) but cheetahs are amazing animals and are severely endangered - much more so than they are portrayed as being. Although there are current attempts to "save" the cheetah, many of these conservation efforts are helpless in the attempt to stop the main problem that is leading to the extinction of the cheetah - human incursion and urban expansion. The growth of urban areas and the constant incursion of humans into the cheetah's main habitat has led to widespread killings and poaching of cheetahs over the years. In addition and perhaps more importantly, human incursion has pushed all savanna species into a smaller and smaller area, leading to a decrease in wildlife numbers due to higher competition for food and water supply. This means that the cheetah's food sources are dying off/being killed by bigger and stronger predators, and that the cheetahs themselves are dying off due to this. As their physique suggests, cheetahs have evolved a "flight" versus "fight" behaviour, which is a recipe for disaster in an environment that is decreasing in size and increasing in its density of hungry cat predators, such as the lion and leopard. The massive decrease in the cheetah's habitat has also led to the single most crucial issue that is slowly ensuring their extinction - inbreeding. In smaller numbers, cheetahs that are forced into a smaller habitat tend to inbreed among family groups, and now virtually ALL non-captive cheetahs in africa are genetically related within their respective habitats. In Kenya, it has gotten so bad that all wild cheetahs in the region are twin brothers and sisters, reducing their gene pool significantly. Like all inbred species, the upsurge of inbred cheetahs - though it is an adaptation on part of the species to survive in harsh times - has led to lower breeding rates, genetic deformities and greater susceptibility to disease. Because the gene pool of the species is SO tiny, these amazing animals are constantly at risk of disease- related extinction. Moreover, the issue of inbreeding and genetics among cheetahs also means that they are less able to evolve and adapt as a species, which is a pressing issue due to climate change (yes - its affecting Africa pretty seriously), which has lead to widespread drought, drier and hotter conditions, and migratory changes (of cheetah prey) across Africa.

In 1900 there were over 100,000 cheetah across Africa and Asia. Today, the cheetah has become extinct in 20 countries because of the problems I just listed. The cheetah remains in only ONE country in Asia - Iran, where there are less than 100 left. The Asian cheetah was/is the only remaining genetic variation of the cheetah. It was declared extinct in India in the 1950s.

In Africa, there are 24 countries left where the cheetah resides, and the cheetah population has dropped to under 15,000. In only half of the 24 countries is there a genetically viable population of cheetahs, and only in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania do the cheetah exist in concentrated populations. To add to the problem, the issue of predator competition has made it extremely rare for cheetahs to thrive in protected wildlife preserves, and even less rare to raise a genetically viable cheetah population in these areas.

It would be a shame to lose this amazing species - they have survived on this planet for 3.5-4 million years before humans came in and cut down the cheetah population, leaving only 1-2% of the cheetah population to remain. It is the oldest of the "big cats", and may now be relegated to the pages of a history book if a cohesive effort is not made to provide a large amount of safe, fertile and prey-rich habitat for the cheetah to recuperate. It is possible to save the cheetah if awareness is raised and people across the world realize the huge, negative impact we are having on the earth's precious and fascinating species.



And the next post will be on climate change I think, because the cheetah's story is a microcosm of the effect that human induced climate change and environmental abuse (for which the west bears a heavy burden of responsibility) is having on Africa, and how these issues have a disproportionately large impact on its inhabitants (on humans and wildlife alike).

So read about cheetahs and donate to save them ( I did!), especially if you're lucky enough to see cheetah cubs. Let's hope it doesn't get to the point where you have to tell your kids about the extinct cheetah babies one day.

donate: http://www.cheetah.org/
http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/

I won't even get into talking about mountain gorillas. They're from rwanda and theres less than 400 left. And they're our relatives. SO save them too. http://www.igcp.org/