Cheetah's populations are declining because they're fast, but they're not the smartest
cat in the box.
Ever since I was a kid, I loved the cheetah.
It's definitely one of my favorite animals on our planet.
Cheetahs are speedy, as you probably know.
They can hit top speeds of 70 to 75 mph (112 to 120 kph).
They live mainly in Africa, though they can also be found in the Middle East.
Cheetahs are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity, and don't rebound from population
destruction very easily.
In 1900, the cheetah population was around 100,000.
Today it's more like 10,000 and YES we are to blame, climate changes, habitat destruction,
the whole 9 yards.
We're seriously screwing up this planet but hey that's not the important thing here, is
it?
By some measures, cheetahs are doing this to themselves.
Researchers from three continents worked together to learn more about how the cheetah is contributing
to its own demise -- their paper in the journal Science is titled, "Cheetahs never prosper."
// LOL good one, guys.
It all comes back to their speed.
Cheetah evolution has afforded them super speed, but not much else.
They don't have the heaviest claws or the strongest defenses.
Their defensive play is the same as their offense, they run.
Once they've made a kill, they don't really defend it.
C'mon cheetahs!
What are you doing, man!
There's no playground mother to tell, you just gotta get in there!
Hyenas and lions take advantage of their packs and strength to steal kills from cheetahs,
driving the zippy kitty away; forcing it to expend even more energy looking for a new
meal.
According to the researchers, the energy a cheetah uses to make a single kill is QUOTE
"relatively small, even taking into account their bursts of speed.
[Instead],the biggest driver of energy expenditure for cheetahs turned out to be the distance
they had to walk in order to find their prey."
Because their kills weren't being defended, cheetahs aren't able to regain the energy
they'd lost looking for a new catch.
You might be thinking, DAMN THOSE LIONS AND HYENAS.
Stealing the cute little cheetah's food….
But that's not the REAL problem.
The problem is these cats have to trek across farmland, and around fences or walls.
Yeah.
It's humans again.
Cheetahs are walking themselves to death in order to find safe hunting grounds.
Remember how I said it wasn't about us this time?
Yeah, I lied.
We're the problem again.
Added to that, the cheetah is pretty easy to tame and has now become a luxury pet in
the Middle East.
It is possible to tame cheetahs and have them walk on a leash and play safely with humans,
and ancient African royalty would take them as hunting pets.
Because of this, poachers steal the cheetah cubs, further increasing their level of population
decline.
We're awful.
How does this make you feel?
Want to do something about it?
Last year for Discovery's company-wide volunteer day, I went to the National Zoo to help clean
the cheetah pens, just for a chance to get close to one.
They're HUGE, like, Great Dane sized, and if you get a chance to volunteer with your
local zoos you should.
It's rewarding, and can really help understand the impact humans are having on these beautiful
animals.