Cheetahs are next for uplisting

[wesheltonj]

See the story on CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/26/africa/cheetahs-disappearing-research/

Lets see: Lions, Leopards and Now Cheetahs.


(CNN) Only about 7,100 cheetahs remain in the world and their numbers are quickly dwindling, putting them at risk of extinction, according to new research.

Cheetahs should be re-categorized as "endangered" instead of their current status as "vulnerable" on the list of threatened species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, researchers said.

Cheetahs have lost 91% of their historic habitat, which once encompassed areas throughout Africa and southwest Asia. Cheetahs have all but disappeared in Asia, with fewer than 50 remaining in Iran, according to research published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
In Zimbabwe, the cheetah population fell to about 170 in 2015, from 1,200 in 1999 amid a complex range of threats and changes in land use between humans and wildlife.
The fastest animals on land roam and hunt across a wide expanse of land. Cheetahs are one of the "wide-ranging carnivores" that roam an area of about 30 by 30 miles for their habitat, researchers wrote.

They don't typically stay within conservation areas.
"The PA (protected area) system may be insufficient to secure long-term survival," wrote the authors from the Zoological Society of London, the Wildlife Conservation Society and Panthera.
Researchers estimated that only 2,360 cheetahs are in conservation areas and that these places are "too small to sustain populations that are viable in the long term."
"The takeaway from this pinnacle study is that securing protected areas alone is not enough," said Dr. Kim Young-Overton, the cheetah program director at Panthera, a group dedicated to preserving wild cats. "We must think bigger, conserving across the mosaic of protected and unprotected landscapes that these far-ranging cats inhabit, if we are to avert the otherwise certain loss of the cheetah forever."
The animals face increasing pressures from humans through dwindling habitat, loss of prey and illegal wildlife trade.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

USAToday has a similar story:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...shing-worldwide-extinction-possible/95854636/

The world's fastest land animal could be sprinting toward extinction, a new study reports Monday.

Only about 7,100 cheetahs are left in the wild on Earth, scientists say in the study. This is the best estimate yet of the global cheetah population, according to study lead author Sarah Durant of the Zoological Society of London.

Most of the decline has been in the past 100 years. The current number is down from an estimated 100,000 at the end of the 19th century, the National Wildlife Federation reports.

The remaining cheetahs live mainly in Africa, although there is also a small population hanging on in Iran. "The population is in decline," Durant said, noting that of the 18 groups of wild cheetahs that scientists have studied in Africa, 14 were decreasing.

For instance, Zimbabwe's cheetah population has plummeted from 1,200 to about 170 animals in just 16 years, representing an astonishing loss of 85% of the country's cheetahs.

"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," Durant 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.

"We need to uplist cheetah threat status from vulnerable to endangered," she added. The group that oversees these listings is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which maintains the Red List of Threatened Species.

About 77% of cheetahs live outside of wildlife reserves and other protected areas, the study said. This requires governments and villages to promote tolerance for a carnivore that sometimes hunts livestock, the Associated Press said.

Besides habitat loss, cheetahs face attacks from villagers, loss of antelope and other prey that are killed by people for their meat, an illegal trade in cheetah cubs, the trafficking of cheetah skins and the threat of getting hit by speeding vehicles.

Scientists estimate the cheetah has been driven out of 91% of its historic range.

The study appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Other groups involved in the study were the Wildlife Conservation Study and Panthera.

 

[Philip Glass]

The cheetah must be able to be hunted and bring value. The problem, as most of you know, is that the cheetah kills everyday and consumes and wastes so much meat. In order for any private landowner or manager to justify this cats existance they must be hunted and bring in good money. I've seen on numerous occasions springbok all but wiped out by these effective predators. They are in more ways than one amazing!
Regards,
Philip

 

[LivingTheDream]

I always notice that there are "once upon a time" estimates of what the population was. I would like to know the science behind this, as it seems once upon a time there was millions of lions, 10 of millions of elephants, hundred thousands of cheetahs, etc etc etc.

 

[enysse]

I would have hunted a cheetah over 10 years ago, had it been legal to import the hide and skull. I will not hunt for pictures.

 

[Red Leg]

The really sad thing is, because of the great harm they do to ranches, particularly sheep operations, and, of course game farms, they are treated as vermin across much of their range. Without "value" to the people on the front line, they are shot on sight (or shot at - they can move out pretty quickly). A dose of reality which is never factored into the "do gooders" calculations.

 

[CAustin]

I always notice that there are "once upon a time" estimates of what the population was. I would like to know the science behind this, as it seems once upon a time there was millions of lions, 10 of millions of elephants, hundred thousands of cheetahs, etc etc etc.

None!

 

[BRICKBURN]

In regard to Cheetah, I have noted several shoot shovel and shut up encounters in my excursions across Southern Africa.
WITNESSING THE RESULTS OF POACHING ACROSS SOUTHERN AFRICA ARE APPARENT TO ANYONE WHO HAS WALKED IN THE BUSH.

Blesbok and Springbok are an excellent baiting "feeding" program when they are introduced into an Cheetah area.

Thankfully, many other countries than the USA can import them and the Cheetah can be hunted.

There are plenty of programs working on saving them, but if they come under a fence on a game farm I can only imagine the havoc they could create.

 

[enysse]

The really sad thing is, because of the great harm they do to ranches, particularly sheep operations, and, of course game farms, they are treated as vermin across much of their range. Without "value" to the people on the front line, they are shot on sight (or shot at - they can move out pretty quickly). A dose of reality which is never factored into the "do gooders" calculations.

I think it would shock most people, how they are killed without mercy due to the damage they do if they go into a fenced area.

 

[BRICKBURN]

In regard to Cheetah, I have noted several shoot shovel and shut up encounters in my excursions across Southern Africa.
THE RESULTS OF POACHING ACROSS SOUTHERN AFRICA ARE APPARENT TO ANYONE WHO HAS WALKED IN THE BUSH.

Blesbok and Springbok are an excellent baiting "feeding" program when they are introduced into an Cheetah area.

Thankfully, many other countries than the USA can import them and the Cheetah can be hunted.

There are plenty of programs working on saving them, but if they come under a fence on a game farm I can only imagine the havoc they could create.

@Royal27
Here's another softball for the Muppets who want to make me famous.
I'll make it even easier and put it on a tee.

Of course anyones comments can be twisted. I fully expect it from people with minimal reading comprehension skills.

The fact that I have encountered POACHERS across Africa is of no surprise to anyone who has actually been in the bush. In every country and every park where I have been on the ground I have seen evidence of poaching. Hence the shoot shovel and shut up.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/anti-poaching-pictures.24754/

The poachers don't bother to bury the Vultures.

Even though I have been invited to hunt Cheetah on multiple occasions I have purposefully NOT hunted Cheetah for personal reasons. (To ensure this is not misconstrued by those who prefer to imply conclusions without facts to support them, I fully support CITES quotas for the legal hunting of Cheetah in Namibia)

Predators are not tolerated in Africa where they affect safety or livelihoods. Private land and private property and persons will be protected.

If you don't comprehend what a hunting bans does, watch this.

WHEN HUNTING BANS WERE INTRODUCED IN BOTSWANA IT HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON PREDATORS: ALL THE LIONS ARE NOW DEAD.



NAMIBIA IS A LEADER IN CONSERVATION
The awareness and forethought that HUNTING plays an integral part in CONSERVATION.

Namibian policies on Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC)
2.4.8 Removal of problem-causing animals

...there are times when removal will be necessary in particular where life and property are threatened, where animals persistently cause problems or where the numbers of wild animals are so high that conflict becomes an intolerable burden on resident people.


...delegate conditional authority... for the destruction of identified problem-causing animals.
From time to time and as become necessary, INCREASE HUNTING QUOTAS in the short term.

This is the reality:

Where, in certain cases, the occurrence of problems in predictable, also the number of wild animals would be killed per year. The best example is that of Lions of Etosha National Park, where over a 20 year period, on average about 60 Lions per year are killed outside the park, almost always by FARMERS (communal and Commercial) in such a way that no economic value is recovered in the process.
In such a case it is preferable to issue a trophy hunting quota for lions outside Etosha National Park, to enable planned trophy hunting and thus recovery of revenue, and with conditions regarding the reduction of other killing.

http://www.met.gov.na/files/files/Human Wildlife Policy.pdf