Time’s running out fast for the cheetah
Speediest land animal in danger of extinction
THE cheetah is in danger of extinction, wildlife experts warned yesterday.
The Zoological Society of London wants the world’s fastest land animal to be given endangered status along with tigers and Asian elephants, after estimating that just over 7,000 remain globally.
The spotted big cats, which can reach speeds of up to 70mph, are now believed to live on only 9 per cent of the land they once occupied.
They are being illegally traded as exotic pets, overhunted and killed for bushmeat. They are also losing their habitat to humans.
A study by the ZSL, the Wildlife Conservation Society and conservation organisation Panthera, says Asian cheetah populations have been hit hardest, with fewer than 50 individuals remaining in one isolated pocket in Iran. There may also be some in a few areas of the Indian subcontinent.
More than half of the world’s cheetahs live across six countries in southern Africa.
Part of the problem is that they cover massive areas of almost 400 square miles, so need a lot of space.
But many of the wildlife reserves and other protected areas that have been set up to preserve them are ‘too small to sustain populations that are viable in the long term’, according to the report. Only around a third of cheetahs live in protected areas.
Lead author Dr Sarah Durant said: ‘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.
‘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.’
While the global population of cheetahs can only be estimated, for 18 populations where the statistics are available, 14 are in decline, and there are thought to be only 7,100 cheetahs left.
The authors, whose study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say the cheetah could be lost forever unless urgent conservation action is taken. It is currently classed as vulnerable, with its population decreasing on the Red List of Threatened Species produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Dr Kim Young-Overton, Panthera’s Cheetah Programme director, said: ‘We must conserve across the mosaic of protected and unprotected landscapes that these far-reaching cats inhabit, if we are to avert the otherwise certain loss of the cheetah forever.’
THEY are the tigers of the Highlands, an ancient breed that has roamed the glens and hills of Scotland for centuries.
But, somewhat surprisingly, the future survival of Scottish wildcats could now depend on animals who are living in English zoos.
Experts say that a conservation breeding programme is vital for the survival of the native species, which is teetering on the edge of extinction.
And wildcats living in captivity – including two adults and a kitten from Chester Zoo – are set to play a key role.
The Scottish Wildcat Conservation Action Plan is attempting to
‘Lifeboat for the whole species’
save the animals from disappearing altogether by breeding them and one day releasing the creatures into the wild.
A Scottish Wildcat Action spokesman said: ‘Wildcats born in zoos and wildlife parks like those at Chester Zoo could be the lifeboat for the whole species.
‘Scottish Wildcat Action found 19 wildcats living wild across a massive 620 square mile area. There are 80 in captivity.
‘By pairing wild-caught wildcats from outside our wildcat priority areas with captive-born wildcats, our partners at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) hope to rear a new founder population to release into the wild.’
There are estimated to be fewer than 300 wildcats prowling the Highlands, making them one of the country’s most endangered species. Earlier this year a wildcat kitten was bred and born at Ches- ter Zoo for the first time, an event hailed as a ‘big boost’ to the conservation programme.
Scottish wildcats can also be found in other parts of England, including at New Forest Wildlife Park, near Southampton, and Battersea Park Children’s Zoo, in London, although these animals are not part of an active breeding programme.
A ‘trap, neuter, vaccinate and return’ programme is also under way in an attempt to limit the number of feral cats interbreeding with wildcats.
A special enclosure has been built at the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie, Inverness-shire, where cats from zoos throughout the UK can be taken to reproduce. Artificial insemination is an option.
Genetic data from captive cats is now being fed into a new ‘molecular studbook’.
David Barclay, the cat conservation project officer who is managing the breeding programme, said having wildcats in collections throughout the UK helped ensure their safety. If one group were, for example, to be hit with a disease there is little chance it would spread to those living miles away.
He continued: ‘With the current captive population spread across UK zoological and wildlife collections, it is vital that there is a common goal in maintaining and enhancing this population.
‘Working in collaboration with each individual collection, RZSS has now put in place an agreement whereby breeding, husbandry and animal transfers will be coordinated to ensure the most robust captive population.
‘In addition, we will also source a select number of new bloodlines from the wild that can be added to the captive gene pool, allowing us to increase the genetic integrity of the captive stock and explore the next phase of reintroduction preparation.’