The Asiatic Cheetah - Essay
Francesca Caravello
3/8/12
The Asiatic Cheetah The Asiatic Cheetah is a wild cat that can be found in Northern Iran and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that only fifty to sixty of these big cats remain in the wild. These cats live approximately twelve to fourteen years on average. Asiatic cheetahs are very rare and nearly extinct. This cat is considered the fastest land mammal in the world. There are so many threats to this cheetah even while it’s endangered, such as agriculture and mining projects. Can’t they build in an area in which animals don’t live? Now mostly because of agriculture and mining projects, the only place these cheetahs exist is in Iran. And the population is below 100. People also poach. In other words this means that they hunt them even while it’s illegal. People should realize that these poor innocent cats are almost extinct. Even though there are conservation sites for them, there are still some in the wild. And if there is poaching there’s going to end up being none in the wild. This next thing isn’t really humans fault, but technically not evens the cheetahs. There is a lot of inbreeding when it comes to these cheetahs. Inbreeding is when they mate with closely related individuals. This is because there was a lack of ancestors, thousands of years ago. So now there is lots of inbreeding. So the species are having trouble expanding. The Asiatic Cheetah, like other subspecies of this amazing big cat, is built for speed. A long and sleek body is balanced on slim, athletic legs with semi-retractable claws that enable the cat to maintain grip on ground in high speed pursuits. Weighing in the range of eighty to one hundred and fifty pounds, it is between four to five feet in length with a near two and a half feet tail that acts as a rudder to stabilize the Cheetah as it makes quick turns in hunts. Height is about two and a half feet. Fur color is tawny and hair is short and coarse. Black spots mark the length of
3/8/12
The Asiatic Cheetah The Asiatic Cheetah is a wild cat that can be found in Northern Iran and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that only fifty to sixty of these big cats remain in the wild. These cats live approximately twelve to fourteen years on average. Asiatic cheetahs are very rare and nearly extinct. This cat is considered the fastest land mammal in the world. There are so many threats to this cheetah even while it’s endangered, such as agriculture and mining projects. Can’t they build in an area in which animals don’t live? Now mostly because of agriculture and mining projects, the only place these cheetahs exist is in Iran. And the population is below 100. People also poach. In other words this means that they hunt them even while it’s illegal. People should realize that these poor innocent cats are almost extinct. Even though there are conservation sites for them, there are still some in the wild. And if there is poaching there’s going to end up being none in the wild. This next thing isn’t really humans fault, but technically not evens the cheetahs. There is a lot of inbreeding when it comes to these cheetahs. Inbreeding is when they mate with closely related individuals. This is because there was a lack of ancestors, thousands of years ago. So now there is lots of inbreeding. So the species are having trouble expanding. The Asiatic Cheetah, like other subspecies of this amazing big cat, is built for speed. A long and sleek body is balanced on slim, athletic legs with semi-retractable claws that enable the cat to maintain grip on ground in high speed pursuits. Weighing in the range of eighty to one hundred and fifty pounds, it is between four to five feet in length with a near two and a half feet tail that acts as a rudder to stabilize the Cheetah as it makes quick turns in hunts. Height is about two and a half feet. Fur color is tawny and hair is short and coarse. Black spots mark the length of