Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus
By Sarah Clark
Description
• The Cheetah is fastest land animal in the
world, able to reach speeds up to seventy
miles per hour.
• It has a slender body and long legs to help it
achieve high speeds.
• It is tan with black spots with distinctive “tear
streaks” under their eyes.
• It has a smaller head and smaller ears than
most other big cats.
Diet
• Eats:
– Gazelles
– Wildebeest calves
– Impalas
– Smaller, hoofed animals.
Where is it Found?
• From India to South Africa
• Used to be prevalent all throughout this
range, but now it is mostly found below
Saharan
• Thrives in a variety of ecosystems including:
– Plains
– Savannah
– Woodland
– Semi-barren zones.
Why is it Endangered?
• Human Encroachment which leads to:
– Habitat loss
– Conflicts with humans
• Decline in prey populations
• Loss of cubs due to predation
• Inbreeding and loss of genetic variation, resulting in
birth defects
• Cheetahs get exhausted after their “chases” where
they exert large amounts of energy to catch their prey.
While they are resting and gaining their energy, in
many cases, their freshly killed prey is taken by a more
aggressive carnivore.
How Many Remain?
• In some countries, such as Namibia, the
Cheetah population is strong and thriving
• In the US, it is marked as endangered on the
Endangered Species List
• In 1900, there were over 100,000 cheetahs,
but now there are only between 9,000 and
12,000 left.
Why Are They Important?
• Keeps prey populations in check so that
they don’t run rampant and ruin the
environment
• Cheetahs hunt the easier prey, they
strengthen the gene pools of other
species by not letting the genes of the
slower and weaker animals pass on.
Conservation Efforts
• Conservationists are teaching livestock owners
and people living in the encroaching areas
how to deal with cheetahs and how to
decrease the amount of violent interactions
between humans and cheetahs
• Endangered species laws, anti-poaching laws,
and habitat restoration have been heavily
enforced, helping the cheetah population to
stabilize in many places.
What Else Can We Do?
• Humans must:
– Protect the Cheetah’s habitat
– Stop the capture and removal of the Cheetah from
its natural home
– Become educated about the cheetah
– Raise awareness about endangered species
Success
• Fairy successful. Cheetah populations have
stabilized in many places
• In Namibia, the country with the largest
cheetah population, their numbers have
stabilized
• However, the Asian Cheetah is nearly extinct
Bibliography
• Cheetah. (n.d.). Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved
January 31, 2014, from
http://www.defenders.org/cheetah/Cheetah
• Conservation Fund. (n.d.).Cheetah Conservation
Fund. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from
http://www.cheetah.org/
• Fitzgerald, J., & Alsaffar, A. (n.d.). Cheetah
(Acinonyx jubatus). Tree of Life Web Project.
Retrieved January 31, 2014, from
http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=48
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