The Big Cat In Danger.Time To Class The Cheetah As Endangered?

The Cheetah Is In Danger.

There is a new call to list these big cats on the endangered animals list. Wildlife conservationists think that Cheetahs are close to extinction, which us why these animals should be in the endangered animals list.

This threat towards these animals, is down to the population of cheetahs being very low; wildlife conservationists estimate that there are only around 7,100 cheetahs in the wild in the continent of Africa. This is why classifying Cheetahs as endangered, is such an important classification.

It means that Cheetahs are endangered, but they are not on the endangered animals list. It is illogical for them not to be on the endangered animals list, as: there are other wild animal species which have more animals than cheetahs, but they are classed as endangered.

These animals are also less vulnerable to extinction as Cheetahs.

For example, take Asian Elephants. The WWF estimates that there are 50,000 Asian Elephants in the wild, yet they are classed as endangered. Whereas, the Cheetahs with only 7,100 animals in the wild, are not classed as endangered, even though there is less of them.

Cheetah Vunerable To Extinction

It means that wild animals who are more vulnerable to extinction, such as the Cheetah, are not being protected in the same way as wild animals who are less vulnerable to extinction. When animals are classed as endangered, they are given more protections than animals who are not classed as endangered. Which means, if Cheetahs are classed as endangered, then they would be given more protections than they are just now. Wild animals, like the Cheetah, can be better protected against things like hunting and deforestation, if they are classed as endangered. Their protection is taken more seriously when they are classed as endangered, or critically endangered. However, a species being listed as endangered does not mean that they will be free from danger – they won’t.

Dangers The Cheetah Face

Like many wild animals, Cheetahs face many threats when they are in the wild. Threats to Cheetahs mainly come from human activity, such as Cheetahs being hunted or the Cheetahs home being destroyed. Hunting and habitat loss is a major problem when it comes to Cheetahs. Cheetahs face an uphill struggle of survival. It is estimated that Cheetahs have lost 80% of their habitat. In other words, Cheetahs have lost 80% of the land that they once inhabited; the land that was their home. With the world population likely to soar in the the coming decades, it’s likely that more of the Cheetahs habitat will be loss. Resulting in less land for them to roam and live in and resulting in less Cheetahs living in the wild.