Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Endangered Cheetahs?

As a whole species (Acinonyx jubatus), the cheetah is not endangered. There is, however, a sub-species or variety called the Saharan Cheetah that lacks the facial markings of the typical cheetahs below:





Unfortunately, Morguefile didn't have a photo of the Saharan Cheetah (subsp. hecki). Saharan Cheetahs are paler overall, with no spots or stripes on the face, mostly brown spots on creamy white fur, and black spots only around the spine. Their color probably develops with exposure to light, as some house cats' coat color does--and Saharan Cheetahs are nocturnal cave dwellers, unlike these typical sun-loving outdoor cheetahs.

If the Saharan Cheetah is a truly distinct population, rather than the mutant type within the species that the scattered distribution of Saharan Cheetah populations suggests, then it's endangered. There are believed to be fewer than 250 living Saharan Cheetahs on Earth.

Juniper Russo's short article about the endangered Saharan Cheetah contains a link to a more technical web site with very specific statistics about the distribution of these dog-sized felines:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9173015/the_saharan_cheetah_critically_endangered.html?cat=57

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