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The cheetah is distinguished by being the terrestrial animal fastest in the world, but as a big cat it has a common destiny with the rest: its early extinction if it is not remedied by humans, on the other hand guilty of its occurrence.
A difficult situation that goes on for too long, to the point of putting the species on the ropes. According to a British study published on December 26, the cheetah has lost habitat in an alarming way.
A few thousand specimens
Today it is only present in 9 percent of the surface it occupied at the beginning of the last century. This means the loss of more than 90 percent of its habitat. But that's not all, because unsurprisingly, their numbers have also drastically decreased.
Returning to the study, published in the American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), fewer than 7,000 cheetahs currently survive in the wild in the world, almost entirely on the African continent.
If their number refers us to a meager population, in comparative terms the contrast is shocking. Not surprisingly, the world population of cheetahs was around 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.
In other words, the cheetah is hopelessly disappearing. Although saving it is possible, and only the human being, responsible for its drama, can and must stop its countdown to extinction. Urgent action is needed, reminds us of the Zoological society From london.
"The cheetah runs straight towards extinction, and could disappear soon if measures are not taken urgently," reads a statement recently released by the entity.
The main threats
Hunting, traffic clandestine from animals and the destruction of its habitat are the main threats facing the cheetah today. Many of them, in fact, are uprooted from their habitat and survival is very low, with the aggravation that the vast majority of them live in unprotected areas.
They are considered pets from luxuryTherefore, they are domesticated from puppies in countries such as Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, or they are used for hunting, following ancient traditions. A dark panorama that, in sum, has led the authors of the study to request that the species go from its current classification as "vulnerable" in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to be considered "in Danger of extinction".
More vulnerable than thought
The authors of the study explain that, despite being a very popular species due to its great speed, which can reach peaks of 120 kilometers per hour and an average that ranges between 98 and 108, until recently we did not know that it is an animal especially vulnerable.
Raise awareness in society about this vulnerability It is one of the main objectives of such research. Above all because, on the other hand, it was not considered to be the case and, therefore, there is a lot of progress to be made in this regard.
In addition, its withdrawn nature prevents effective control of the population, making it more difficult to monitor and therefore also take effective measures to help the species.
A nosedive
The figures are grim. If your population is scarce And it is suffering a nosedive, when you analyze this decline in some of the enclaves where it still exists, possible optimism goes out the window.
For example, in Zimbabwe the population has gone from 1,200 specimens to only 170 in three decades or, for example, in Iran only 43 cheetahs have been recorded, the only place where the Asian cheetah survives.
The Asian cheetah is a subspecies of the cheetah, which once lived in different countries on the Asian continent, such as Saudi Arabia to India, but today they can only be found in Iran.
Despite efforts to help the species in Iranian territory since 2001, their number continues to decrease, laments the scientist and leader of the NGO Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), Morteza Eslami:
We have reinforced vigilance to protect them and launched educational projects in areas close to their habitat. In addition, to sensitize the population, the Asian cheetah is the image of the Iranian soccer team jerseys and, among other initiatives, the Iranian airline Meraj has a drawing of a cheetah on the fuselage.
Conclusions.
However, they are insufficient measures. If not quickly acted on in an effective way, the cheetah could soon be a simple memory. The sixth mass extinction in which we are immersed would have claimed a new victim. Let us not forget that the human being is responsible and victim of the sixth wave of biological mass extinction of the planet.
That is, since we depend on the environment, we are also in danger, and which boomerang could end up assuming the practical disappearance of humanity. Not today or tomorrow, but much earlier than we imagine.
In short, for the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), an impressive feline whose ancestors stepped on Earth more than two million years ago, the emergence of the homo genus at that time was also very bad news.
Going further back, it was also for him that a part of them ended up evolving into homo sapiens, a true predator and destroyer of their environment. Not in vain, it is said that being human is the animal more dangerous of world, and the only one that destroys its habitat.
If you want to read more articles similar to The cheetah, seriously endangeredWe recommend that you enter our category of Endangered Animals.
