Habitat loss, conflict with humans, climate change, limited genetic diversity, and the illegal wildlife trade are the threats directed at African cheetahs. They are extinct in more than 20 countries and their population declined from 100,000 in 1900 to 10,000 today. It won't be easy for cheetah populations to grow back. Since they require huge amounts of land and reserves in Africa aren't that big, cheetahs don't do well in reserves because of the competitive lions and hyenas. That leaves them in unprotected areas where they come into conflict with farmers and are killed because they are seen as a threat to the livestock by a farmer. However, the livestock overgraze the land, leaving little for gazelles and other species cheetahs pray on. Also, the cheetah's food source is gone because the prey species are endangered. An invasive plant called the acacia thorn bush has taken over much of the habitat, depleting the region's water source and killing cheetahs, because the cats run into the thorns and blind themselves.
There are solutions to all these problems. The Cheetah Conservation Fund has established many programs to help boost cheetah populations, restore habitat, and educate farmers to help reduce human-cheetah conflict. They also breed large guard dogs to help protect livestock from predators to reduce human retaliation. A program called Future Farmers of Africa focuses on growing grass, not overgrazing, and having healthy livestock and wildlife. CCF founder Laurie Marker started a program to harvest the acacia thorn bush and turn them into fuel logs. However, there are other threats such as climate change which is a really big problem since Africa is one of the driest places in the world. Africa's growing population also serves as a threat which will affect wildlife species by eliminating habitat to build houses and factories and more hunting.
I never knew cheetahs were endangered until after reading this article. i wasn't really surprised that human activities are causing cheetahs to go extinct because many extinct species are caused by human intervention. But since it seems so hard to save cheetah populations, we need to start right away with a very important step. Education. Education is necessary to create more public awareness about the possibility of cheetah extinction. I think that most people don't even know that cheetahs are endangered, like me. Starting with education is crucial but it takes time and patience.
Source: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/cheetah-threatened/
Written by John R. Platt on October 8,2015
There are solutions to all these problems. The Cheetah Conservation Fund has established many programs to help boost cheetah populations, restore habitat, and educate farmers to help reduce human-cheetah conflict. They also breed large guard dogs to help protect livestock from predators to reduce human retaliation. A program called Future Farmers of Africa focuses on growing grass, not overgrazing, and having healthy livestock and wildlife. CCF founder Laurie Marker started a program to harvest the acacia thorn bush and turn them into fuel logs. However, there are other threats such as climate change which is a really big problem since Africa is one of the driest places in the world. Africa's growing population also serves as a threat which will affect wildlife species by eliminating habitat to build houses and factories and more hunting.
I never knew cheetahs were endangered until after reading this article. i wasn't really surprised that human activities are causing cheetahs to go extinct because many extinct species are caused by human intervention. But since it seems so hard to save cheetah populations, we need to start right away with a very important step. Education. Education is necessary to create more public awareness about the possibility of cheetah extinction. I think that most people don't even know that cheetahs are endangered, like me. Starting with education is crucial but it takes time and patience.
Source: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/cheetah-threatened/
Written by John R. Platt on October 8,2015