The world’s fastest land animal, the cheetah, is sprinting towards the edge of extinction and could soon be lost forever unless urgent, landscape-wide conservation action is taken, a new study has warned.
The study estimates that just 7,100 cheetahs remain globally, representing the best available estimate for the species to date.
The cheetah has been driven out of 91 per cent of its historic range, according to the study led by Zoological Society of london (ZSl), Panthera and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Asiatic cheetah populations have been hit hardest, with fewer than 50 individuals remaining in one isolated pocket of Iran, researchers said. Due to the species’ dramatic decline, the researchers are calling for the cheetah to be up-listed from ‘Vulnerable’ to ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species.
Typically, greater international conservation support, prioritisation and attention are granted to wildlife classified as ‘Endangered’, in efforts to stave off impending extinction.
“This study represents the most comprehensive analysis of cheetah status to date. Given the secretive nature of this elusive cat, it has been difficult to gather hard information on the species, leading to its plight being overlooked,” said Sarah Durant, ZSl/WCS lead author and Project leader for the Rangewide Conservation Programme for Cheetah and African Wild Dog, said.
“Our findings show that the large space requirements for cheetah, coupled with the complex range of threats faced by the species in the wild, mean that it is likely to be much more vulnerable to extinction than was previously thought,” said Durant.