SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Scientists Urge Endangered Listing for Cheetahs
A comprehensive assessment of cheetah populations in southern Africa supported by the National Geographic Society reveals the dire state of one of the planet's most iconic big cats. In a study published today in the open-access journal PeerJ, researchers present evidence that low cheetah population estimates in southern Africa and population decline support a call to list the cheetah as "Endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
With partial support from the National Geographic Society's Big Cats Initiative, an international team of 17 researchers, led by Florian Weise of the Claws Conservancy and Varsha Vijay of Duke University, analyzed more than two million collared cheetah observations from a long-term study by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and another 20,000 cheetah observations from the research community and the general public. Their findings show that free-ranging cheetahs were present across approximately 789,700 square kilometers in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe between 2010 and 2016.
[...] The study estimates only 3,577 adult cheetahs exist in this extensive area, which is larger than France, and a majority (55 percent) of individuals are found within only two habitats. This estimate is 19 percent lower than the IUCN's current assessment, supporting the call for the uplisting of cheetahs from "Vulnerable" to "Endangered."
The distribution and numbers of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in southern Africa (open, DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4096) (DX)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Hartree on Wednesday December 13 2017, @04:21AM (2 children)
He's also at odds with the people I know who have worked at big cat shelters who find cheetahs are pretty laid back compared to some of the others. They also don't have the weapon type claws that most cats do.
Part of the relative danger is temperament, but much of it is size. When a housecat gets feisty it's usually not that big a deal. When a tiger does, you can end up dead.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @04:29AM
They seem more like canine - they live/hunt in a pack, lack retractable claws, built and run like greyhounds.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @04:35AM
They aren't lions or tigers. I'll grant you that. (nor hippo, cobra, puff adder...)
A group of healthy young men can even chase one down and then give it a beating. (requires good eyes and some space; they get ahead but can't keep going)
None of this changes the fact that they are dangerous to humans. They are a hazard. We don't need them.