Asiatic cheetah
Asiatic cheetah | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | Felinae |
Genus: | Acinonyx |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | A. j. venaticus
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Trinomial name | |
Acinonyx jubatus venaticus (Griffith, 1821)
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Range of the Asiatic cheetah in green | |
Synonyms[2] | |
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The Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is a
The Asiatic cheetah survives in protected areas in the eastern-central
Taxonomy
Felis venatica was proposed by Edward Griffith in 1821 and based on a sketch of a maneless cheetah from India.[9] Griffith's description was published in Le Règne Animal with the help of Griffith's assistant Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827.[10]
Acinonyx raddei was proposed by
Evolution
Results of a five-year
Characteristics
The Asiatic cheetah has a buff-to-light fawn-coloured fur that is paler on the sides, on the front of the muzzle, below the eyes and inner legs. Small black spots are arranged in lines on the head and nape, but irregularly scattered on body, legs, paws and tail. The tail tip has black stripes. The coat and mane are shorter than of African cheetah subspecies.[13] The head and body of an adult Asiatic cheetah measure about 112–135 cm (44–53 in) with a 66–84 cm (26–33 in) long tail. It weighs about 34–54 kg (75–119 lb). They exhibit sexual dimorphism; males are slightly larger than the females.[14]
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world.[15] It was previously thought that the body temperature of a cheetah increases during a hunt due to high metabolic activity.[16] In a short period of time during a chase, a cheetah may produce 60 times more heat than at rest, with much of the heat, produced from glycolysis, stored to possibly raise the body temperature. The claim was supported by data from experiments in which two cheetahs ran on a treadmill for minutes on end but contradicted by studies in natural settings, which indicate that body temperature stays relatively the same during a hunt. A 2013 study suggested stress hyperthermia and a slight increase in body temperature after a hunt.[17] The cheetah's nervousness after a hunt may induce stress hyperthermia, which involves high sympathetic nervous activity and raises the body temperature. After a hunt, the risk of another predator taking its kill is great, and the cheetah is on high alert and stressed.[18] The increased sympathetic activity prepares the cheetah's body to run when another predator approaches. In the 2013 study, even the cheetah that did not chase the prey experienced an increase in body temperature once the prey was caught, showing increased sympathetic activity.[17]
Distribution and habitat
The cheetah thrives in open lands, small plains, semi-desert areas, and other open habitats where prey is available. The Asiatic cheetah mainly inhabits the desert areas around
During the 1970s, the Asiatic cheetah population in Iran was estimated to number about 200 individuals in 11 protected areas. By the end of the 1990s, the population was estimated at 50 to 100 individuals.[19][20] During camera-trapping surveys conducted across 18 protected areas between 2001 and 2012, a total of 82 individuals in 15–17 families were recorded and identified. Of these, only six individuals were recorded for more than three years. In this period, 42 cheetahs died due to
In summer 2018, a female cheetah and four cubs were sighted in
Former range
The Asiatic cheetah once ranged from the Arabian Peninsula and Near East to Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan to India.[23] Bronze Age remains are known from Troy in western Anatolia[24] and Armenia.[25] It is considered locally extinct in all of its former range, with the only known surviving population being Iran.[26]
In Iraq, the cheetah was still recorded in the desert west of
In Central Asia, uncontrolled hunting of cheetahs and their prey, severe winters and conversion of grassland to areas used for agriculture contributed to the population's decline. By the early 20th century, the range in Central Asia had decreased significantly.
The cheetah population in Afghanistan decreased to the extent that it has been considered extinct since the 1950s.[32] Two skins were sighted in markets in the country, one in 1971, and another in 2006, the latter reportedly from Samangan Province.[33]
In India, the cheetah occurred in
Ecology and behaviour
Most sightings of cheetahs in the Miandasht Wildlife Refuge between January 2003 and March 2006 occurred during the day and near watercourses. These observations suggest that they are most active when their prey is.[35]
Camera-trapping data obtained between 2009 and 2011 indicate that some cheetahs travel long distances. A female was recorded in two protected areas that are about 150 km (93 mi) apart and intersected by railway and two highways. Her three male siblings and a different adult male were recorded in three reserves, indicating that they have large home ranges.[36]
Diet
The Asiatic cheetah preys on medium-sized
In India, prey was formerly abundant. Before its extinction in the country, the cheetah fed on the blackbuck, the chinkara, and sometimes the chital and the nilgai.[39]
Reproduction
Evidence of females successfully raising cubs is very rare. A few observations in Iran indicate that they give birth throughout the year to one to four cubs. In April 2003, four cubs found in a den had still closed eyes. In November 2004, a cub was recorded by a camera-trap that was about 6–8 months old. Breeding success depends on availability of prey.[35] In October 2013, a female with four cubs were filmed in Khar Turan National Park.[40] In December 2014, four cheetahs were sighted and photographed by camera traps in the same national park.[41] In January 2015, three other adult Asiatic cheetahs and a female with her cub were sighted in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge.[42] Eleven cheetahs were also sighted at the time, and another four a month later.[43] In July 2015, five adult cheetahs and three cubs were spotted in Khar Turan National Park.[44]
Threats
The Asiatic cheetah has been listed as
Reduced gazelle numbers, persecution, land-use change, habitat degradation and fragmentation, and desertification contributed to the decline of the cheetah population.[19][45] The cheetah is affected by loss of prey as a result of antelope hunting and overgrazing from introduced livestock. Its prey was pushed out as herders entered game reserves with their herds.[37] A herder pursued a female cheetah with two cubs on his motorbike, until one of the cubs was so exhausted that it collapsed. He caught and kept it chained in his home for two weeks, until it was rescued by officers of the Iranian Department of Environment.[46]
Mining development and road construction near reserves also threaten the population.
Conflict between livestock herders and cheetahs is also threatening the population outside protected areas. Several herders killed cheetahs to prevent livestock loss, or for trophies, trade and fun.[45] Some herders are accompanied by large mastiff-type dogs into protected areas. These dogs killed five cheetahs between 2013 and 2016.[47]
Between 2007 and 2011, six cheetahs, 13 predators and 12
Conservation
In September 2001, the "Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah and its Associated Biota" project was launched by the Iranian Department of Environment in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme's Global Environment Facility, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, the Cheetah Conservation Fund and the Iranian Cheetah Society.[4]
Personnel of
A few orphaned cubs have been raised in captivity, such as Marita who died at the age of nine years in 2003. Beginning in 2006, the day of his death, 31 August, became the Cheetah Conservation Day, used to inform the public about conservation programs.[54]
In 2014, the Iran national football team announced that its 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 AFC Asian Cup kits are imprinted with pictures of the Asiatic cheetah in order to raise international awareness for its conservation.[55][56] In February 2015, Iran launched a search engine, Yooz, that features a cheetah as logo.[57] In May 2015, the Iranian Department of Environment announced plans to quintuple the penalty for poaching a cheetah to 100 million Iranian toman.[58] In September 2015, Meraj Airlines introduced the new livery of Iranian Cheetah to support its conservation efforts.[59] Iranian officials have discussed constructing wildlife crossings to reduce the number of deaths in traffic accidents.[60]
In captivity
In February 2010, photos of an Asiatic cheetah in a "Semi-Captive Breeding and Research Center of Iranian Cheetah" in Iran's Semnan province were published.[61] Another news report stated that the centre is home to about ten Asiatic cheetahs in a semi-wild environment protected by wire fencing all around.[62]
In January 2008, a male cub aged about 7–8 months was recovered from a sheep herder and brought into captivity.[46] Wildlife officials in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge and the Turan National Park have raised a few orphaned cubs.[54]
In 2014, an Asiatic cheetah was cloned for the first time by scientists from the University of Buenos Aires.[63] The embryo was not born.[64] In December 2015, it was reported that 18 Asiatic cheetah cubs had recently been born at Pardisan Park.[65] In May 2022, an Asiatic cheetah gave birth to three male cubs in a facility in Iran; two died shortly after with Pirouz being the lone survivor.[66] This is the first known reproduction of the subspecies in captivity.[66] On 28 February 2023, Pirouz reportedly died in the veterinary hospital in Iran due to kidney failure.[67]
See also
- Wildlife of Iran
- Northwest African cheetah
- American cheetahs(Miracinonyx)
- Giant cheetah (Eurasian cheetah)
- Cheetah Conservation Fund
- Pirouz (cheetah)
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External links
- "Asiatic cheetah". IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.
- "Iranian Cheetah Society". Iranian Cheetah Society.
- "Cheetah Conservation Fund". Cheetah Conservation Fund.
- Video: Four Cheetah cubs spotted with their mother on YouTube
- Video: Hunting with Cheetahs in India on YouTube
- Video: 'Cheetahs in Iran', the last stronghold of the Asiatic cheetah on YouTube
- Video: Extinctions : Discover the endangered Asiatic cheetah on YouTube
- The Persian Cheetah
- Spotted big cat in Turkmenistan
- Asiatic cheetah embryos cloned at Royan Institute