Knowing wildlife and the impact of tourism on cheetahs.

Common and Scientific names

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Acinonyx

Species: jubatus (IUCN, 2004)

Sub Species: Acinonyx jubatus hecki, Acinonyx jubatus jubatus, Acinonyx jubatus raineyi, Acinonyx jubatus ngorongorensis, Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii, Acinonyx jubatus fearsoni, Acinonyx jubatus venaticus (IUCN Cat Specialist Group, 2004). Common name: Cheetah (IUCN, 2004)

Natural History

Until 10,000 years ago, 'cheetahs were common in North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe" (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, year unknown).

Around this time, it is thought that the cheetah genus narrowly escaped extinction and consequently experienced a bottleneck event, followed by a period of inbreeding (Merola, 1994), creating the limited genetic variation that is seen today among the sub-species of cheetah.

Only the king cheetah exposes a vast variation in cheetah morphology, with longer fur on the back of the head and neck and elongated spots that join to form irregular markings over the rest of its body. However, this variation is caused by a recessive gene in the species, and is not another sub-species of cheetah (University of Michigan Museum of zoology, year unknown).

Cheetah numbers continue to decrease, in part caused by the increase in human populations, continuing conflict with local farmers (Marker et al, 2003), and decreasing natural habitat (University of Michigan Museum of zoology, year unknown).

Habitat and Range Distribution

Cheetah's habitats range from dry savannah to tropical and subtropical shrublands, and from temperate, tropical and subtropical grasslands to hot and temperate deserts (IUCN, 2004).

Cheetahs have a relatively wide distribution throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including countries such as Algeria, Niger, Kenya and Namibia; as well as the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus ssp. venaticus) that now survives only in Iran (IUCN Cat Specialist Group, 2004). Numbers of the Asiatic cheetah are believed to be less than 60, with numbers of the sub-Saharan African cheetah estimated to be 9,000-12,000 (IUCN, 2004).

Ecological Requirements

Ecological requirements for the cheetah include their prey base, which mainly consists of gazelles (IUCN, 2004), as well as small to medium sized ungulates such as impalas.

The habitat cheetahs occupy provides them with protection from larger predators and coverage during hunting.

As a semi-nomadic species (IUCN, 2004), cheetahs require relatively large areas for movement. Female cheetahs can occupy home ranges of up to 800km squared within their roaming habitat (IUCN Cat Specialist Group, 2004).

Natural Predators

Natural predators of cheetahs include the more successful carnivores of African plains such as lions, leopards, hyenas, and even baboons, which usurp cheetah kills and prey on young cheetahs, contributing to their high infant mortality rate (IUCN Cat Specialist Group, 2004).

Cheetah predators can include humans, especially farmers and poachers, as decreasing cheetah numbers have been the result of hunting for pelt, and shooting of cheetahs to protect livestock.

Conservation Status

World Conservation Union (IUCN) red list:

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus): vulnerable Northwest African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus ssp.hecki): endangered Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus ssp. venaticus): critically endangered (IUCN, 2004)

US Federal list:

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus): Endangered (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, year unknown).

CITES:

Appendix 1.

Appendix 1 lists species that are the most endangered among the CITES-listed animals. CITES prohibits commercial international trade of any specimen of these species (IUCN, 2004).

National legislation has the cheetah protected over its known extant range and in many historical range states. Hunting of cheetahs has been prohibited in around twelve countries including, Algeria, Iran and Niger (IUCN Species Specialist Group, 2004).

Impact of Tourism

Three major impacts of tourism on the Cheetah:

* Damage, destruction and 'desertification' (Gros, 1997) of the natural habitat of cheetahs by safari tour vehicles, especially those that go 'off track'. Driving 'off track' depletes the grass and shrubs (Tourism Support Package, 1995) that provide camouflage for cheetahs and feeding grounds for their prey.

* Disruption of the natural behaviours and habits of cheetahs and their prey species by tourist vehicles. Such disruptions cause disturbances among the wildlife that make up the cheetah prey base, therefore reducing the success rate of the cheetahs to catch their prey. "One example of cheetah disruption by tourists has occurred in Kenya, where cheetahs became so disturbed at times that they did not feed, mate or raise their young" (Tourist Support Package, 1995).

* Depletion of cheetah prey base species through emigration of gazelle and other cheetah prey species from tourist areas; and prey death from decreased vegetation. This may be caused by increases in the demand for tourist facilities in wildlife areas (IUCN, 2004) contributing to lower wildlife and cheetah population densities (Gros, 2001).

Specific Management Measures

* Tourism Support Package: This package is used as a resource for government agencies and non-governmental organisations (Tourism Support Package, 1995) in the development of better-managed eco-tourism operations in Africa. It provides examples and control methods aimed at reducing the impact of tourists on African wildlife, including the cheetah. One example of tourist control methods in the package is, 'permit off-road vehicles only in the least sensitive areas'.

* Cheetah Conservation Fund: Works in affiliation with the Kenya Wildlife Services (Wykstra, 2005) to provide a number of services including 'presentations to tourists through local and international tour operators' (Wykstra, 2005). The fund aims to educate both tourists and tour operators on the survival of the cheetah and the importance of their conservation.

Perceptions on Human-Wildlife

Interactions

Far too often, human-cheetah interactions have had negative impacts on the cheetah's plight for survival (Wykstra, 2005). The cry for cheetah conservation grows louder as the numbers of these animals continue to diminish.

Eco-tourism is able to play a major role in promoting cheetah conservation, if managed correctly. There is also great opportunity to educate thousands of tourists and tourist operators that visit the cheetah's habitat.

If not managed correctly, traditional tourism and eco-tourism will continue to damage the resources and wildlife that increasingly attract tourists (Tourism Support Package, 1995).

Through education, the attitudes and behaviours of tourists and tourist operators can be changed from a selfish attitude of using the cheetahs for personal enjoyment, to one of concern for the welfare and survival of the diminishing cheetah populations.

Literature Cited

Gros, P. 1997. Status of the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus in Kenya: a field-interview assessment. Biological Conservation, 85 (1998), pp 137-149.

Gros, P. 2001. The status and conservation of the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus in Tanzania. Biological Conservation, 106 (2002), pp 177-185.

IUCN, 2004. IUCN Red list of threatened species: Acinonyx jubatus. Available at: http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=219

[Accessed 26 August, 2005]

IUCN Cat Specialist Group, 2004. Facts. Arkive database.

Available at:

http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Acinonyx_jubatus/ more_info.html

[Accessed 20 August, 2005]

IUCN Species Specialist Group, 2004. Title unknown.

Available at: http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgpotal/cat-website/ 20_catwebsite/home/indexen.htm

[Accessed 2 September, 2005]

Marker, L., Dickman, A., Mills, M., Macdonald, D. 2003. Aspects of the management of cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus jubatus, trapped on Namibian farmlands. Biological Conservation, 114 (2003), pp 401-412.

Merola, M. 1994. A reassessment of homoygosity and the case for inbreeding depression in the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus: implications for conservation. Conservation Biology, 8 (4), pp 961-971.

Tourism Support Package, June 1995.

Available at:

http://www.inece.org.org/PDFDocs/tourism.pdf [Accessed 25 August,2005]

University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, year unknown. Animal Diversity Web. Available at: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/ information/Acinoyx_jubatus.html

[Accessed 1 September, 2005]

Wykstra, M. 2005. Cheetah Conservation and Human Impact in Kenya. Cheetah Conservation

Fund: Kenya. Available at: http://www.cheetah.org/kenya2004.pdf

[Accessed 25 August, 2005]