'Urgent' change needed to stop Cheetahs becoming extinct, experts warn

Urgent action is needed to stop the world's fastest land animal becoming extinct, experts have warned.

Scientists estimate that just 7,100 cheetahs remain in the wild, occupying just 9 per cent of the territory they once did.

Asiatic populations have been hit the hardest - with less than 50 of the cats still alive in Iran, according to a Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) investigation.

In Zimbabwe, cheetah numbers have plummeted by 85 per cent in little more than a decade.

The cheetah's dramatic decline has now prompted calls for the animal's status to be upgraded from "vulnerable" to "endangered" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species.

Dr Sarah Durant, project leader for the Rangewide Conservation Programme for Cheetah and African Wild Dog, said: "This study represents the most comprehensive analysis of cheetah status to date.

"Given the secretive nature of this elusive cat, it has been difficult to gather hard information on the species, leading to its plight being overlooked.

“Our findings show that the large space requirements for cheetah, coupled with the complex range of threats faced by the species in the wild, mean that it is likely to be much more vulnerable to extinction than was previously thought."

The cheetah is one of the world's most wide-ranging carnivores and needs a lot of space.

Partly because of this, 77 per cent of its remaining habitat falls outside protected areas, leaving the animal especially vulnerable to human impacts.

Even within well-managed parks and reserves the cats have suffered as a result of humans hunting their prey, habitat loss, illegal trafficking of cheetah parts, and the exotic pet trade, say researchers.

In Zimbabwe these pressures have seen the cheetah population plunge from 1,200 to a maximum of only 170 animals in 16 years.

Experts have called for a new approach to cheetah conservation focusing on the landscape that transcends national borders and incorporates co-ordinated regional strategies.