Cheetah under threat of extinction

It is a big cat with unique characteristics: tall, with large spots, thin and a small head, amber eyes, with earmarks under them. As the world's fastest animal having a maximum speed of 110 km per hour, it can hunt its prey by running it down in quick, short and very fast spates. The Namibian cheetah (acinonyx jubatus), is the most specialised of all the 37 species of cats. Its nature and hunting skills are so unique that it has been kept extensively by royalty for pets and hunting sports for the past five centuries.

However, this highly prized cat today finds itself under the threat of extinction all over the world for various reasons. This is why CITES and a number of conservationist groups have joined forces to try and protect its future as an endangered species. In Namibia, for instance, the Cheetah Conservation Fund, a non-government organisation, has embarked on concerted efforts to ensure the cat's survival. Whereas it was estimated in 1900 that there were about 100,000 cheetah living in 44 African and Asian countries, the species has been extirpated from many areas. It is estimated by conservationistss that, at most, only 12,000 to 15,000 cheetah remain in 26 African countries, with only about 200 more living in Iran.

Namibia holds the largest world cheetah population today with latest statistics showing a total of between 200,000 to 300,000 cats, constituting about one-fifth of the entire cheetah population on this planet. The threat that the cheetah is facing today is just as ominous as the fate it has suffered for centuries all over the world. With specific regard to Namibia, the number one enemy is the commercial farmer, who shoots to kill on sight, and uses other means to trap it in order to protect his livestock or for trophy hunting. The Namibian cheetah population has been drastically reduced for close to 20 years, with perhaps more than 10,000 cheetah having been removed from the farmland. According to 1992 records by CITES, 6,818 cheetah were forcibly removed from their habitat between 1980 and 1991. Out of this figure, 5,670 were killed by the farmer in protection of livestock, 958 exported and 190 trophy-hunted. The Namibian cheetah population is found in a contiguous area across more than 275,000 km of the country's commercial livestock farmland. About 1,000 farmers control the cheetah's fate in this area because the cat is in direct conflict with livestock. The majority of the farmers perceive the cheetah as a threat to their livestock and, therefore, do not have a positive attitude towards its existence. If the cheetah is to survive on the farmlands in Namibia, these attitudes have to change.

For sometime now, efforts have been undertaken by various government and non-governmental organisations spearheaded by the Cheetah Conservation Fund, to influence the farming community to appreciate and protect the existence of the cheetah. The most effective strategy designed by the fund is the proper management and conservation of a healthy ecosystem for wildlife. The mission of the fund, established in 1990, is to develop and implement long-term monitoring, multi-disciplinary research for the conservation efforts for the survival of the cheetah. It also has the task to survey and analyse the ecosystem in the remaining habitats in Namibia as well as other appropriate parts of Africa. Namibia is the first country in the world to include sustainable utilisation of wildlife and protection of its environment in its constitution.

But sustainable use can only be achieved today through sound management parctices which are supported by research and active participation by those who are utilising the wildlife. Management plans must be flexible and incorporate adjustments whenever possible. Wildlife should be managed by the people who own and utilise it, such as the farmers, and not solely by the govenment and international organisations. A new land and wildlife management practice in Namibia is the formation of ''conservancies.'' A conservancy is an area where conservation is being actively practised. It also means the management of human use of organisms or ecosystems to ensure that such use is sustainable. They consist of adjacent farms joining together in broad units and developing strategies sensitive to their farmland ecosystem as a whole. If the level of cheetah being removed is more than those being born, it is clear that indiscriminate removal is not an effective strategy for protecting livestock, or managing the cheetah population, and it can be extremely detrimental to both. Evidence also suggests that removing a predator from its territory creates a vaccuum, encourging other individuals to compete for that territory, potentially increasing livestock loss. The major question to examine today is: Will the cheetah survive in future?.

The answer lies in the critical management of Namibia's cheetah population in order to ensure its survival for the future. Management of the cheetah requires an understanding of how to reduce short-term immediate threats to the population, as well as how to plan for its long-term survival and improve its genetic health. In this respect the farmer's co-operation is absolutely necessary.