Cheetahs officially endangered

Cheetahs, the world fastest land animals have been added to UN's endangered species list. This was really logical consequence resulting from variety of different problems, most notably habitat loss, but also because of often conflict with humans, high mortality rate of cheetah cubs, and different genetic variations. There were several attempts of captive breeding but none of them ended with success.

Habitat loss is the main problem why cheetahs are on UN's endangered species list. Cheetahs need large territories for their habitats but with recent population increase more and more land is used for agriculture meaning less space for cheetahs. Recent estimates say that there are about 12000 cheetahs in the wild, most of which live in Namibia (close to 2500).

Cheetahs - Officially endangered

Current efforts have proven to be not enough to prevent decline in cheetahs population though it has to be said that some organizations (most notably Cheetah Conservation Fund) are really working hard to help cheetah's survival. The most difficult problem that needs to be solved is how to find the balance between farmers and cheetahs. Habitat loss has forced cheetahs to attack livestock resulting in frequent conflicts with farmers in which many cheetahs have been killed.

Endangered animals - Cheetah

Cheetah is the fastest of all land animals and can reach speeds between 112 kilometers per hour (70 mph) and 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) with acceleration from 0 to 110 kilometers per hour (68 mph) in just three seconds. In Hindi word "chita" means "the spotted one".

These beautiful animals weigh from 40 kilograms (88 lb) to 65 kilograms (140 lb) when adult, and live primarily on African plains.

They are great predators and their favorite food are antelopes although they often lose their meal because of larger predators such as lions and hyenas.

Cheetah - The fastest land animal

Cheetahs are endangered mostly because of humans constricting their habitats by invading with agricultural lands and deforestation practices which reduce the quality and quantity of space the Cheetah has to hunt in (and yes also prey). This also reduces the area it has to breed, hunt and seek refuge from lions and hyenas Poaching is also big problem as with the most other African predators.

Another problem is that cheetah cubs have high mortality rate as a result of genetic factors and predation by larger carnivores such as lions and hyenas. Although large numbers of young Cheetahs die in the first six months of their lives, their mortality is not the most significant contributor to a declining Cheetah population. In fact it is the death of adult Cheetahs that is most attributed to the falling numbers of Cheetahs in the wild.

Also many people dislike cheetahs because they are predators, and because many people fail to see full importance of their role in given ecosystem, and their important role in food chain. This attitude has to change if we want to ensure survival of cheetahs in years to come.

Cheetahs are already extinct in most of Asia and hopefully this will not happen in Africa. There are only about 12000 cheetahs left in Africa.