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Columbus Cheetah

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Many observers have commented on the cheetah's vulnerability to interspecific ... The chief mechanism by which more powerful carnivores -- lions, leopards and ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Columbus Cheetah


1
Columbus Cheetah
  • Myth Buster

2
Myth 1
There are NO gifted ones
3
THE CHEETAH IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES The total
number of cheetahs in sub-Saharan Africa has been
variously estimated at 15,000 (Myers 1975),
25,000 (Frame 1984), and 9-12,000 (Kraus and
Marker-Kraus 1991), and a wide-ranging survey is
in progress to develop a better grasp of the
cheetahs current status (P. Gros in prep.)
4
It has been argued that lack of genetic diversity
may render the cheetah an exceptionally
vulnerable species (OBrien et al. 1983). Genetic
variation is thought to be essential to the
long-term adaptability and persistence of
populations by providing sufficient genetic
options on which natural selection can operate in
response to environmental change.
5
Many observers have commented on the cheetahs
vulnerability to interspecific competion with
other large carnivores, and this is now the
primary focus of the long-term cheetah study in
the Serengeti (S. Durant pers. comm. 1993). The
chief mechanism by which more powerful carnivores
-- lions, leopards and hyaenas -- limit cheetah
abundance is by killing cheetah cubs (Laurenson
in press), but these species, as well as
(sometimes) even jackals, baboons and vultures,
also drive adult cheetahs off their kills. The
cheetahs relatively large litter size may be a
strategy to offset high juvenile mortality
(Burney 1980, Hamilton 1986a, Laurenson 1992,
Caro 1994). Where other large carnivores have
largely been eliminated, such as ranchland in
Namibia, farmland and pastoral land in Kenya, and
in many parts of Somalia, cheetahs appear to
flourish at higher densities (McVittie 1979,
Burney 1980, Hamilton 1986a, Morsbach 1987, A.
Simonetta in litt. 1993). A strategy of relying
solely upon the limited system of protected areas
within the cheetahs range may not be sufficient
to ensure the conservation of viable
sub-populations.
6
CHEETAHS ARE NOT PLENTIFUL BUT THEY DO EXIST!
7
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