Cheeta Facts by Forest Ostrander (acx book reading .TXT) 📕

of the loss of habitat of the cheetah, allied activities like construction of roads and increase in traffic has led to more frequent confrontations between the Asiatic Cheetah and human beings.
•Hunting and Poaching: The Asiatic Cheetah has been a coveted kill for its coat. It was hunted to near extinction by the Indian Royalty and Europeans for its coat which was a symbol of wealth and bravery.
•Genetic Factor: The inherent problem with this cat is the lack of genetic diversity. The Asiatic Cheetah has descended from a small group of ancestors that interbred some thousands of years back. This has weakened its immune system which in turn is one of the main reasons of the high mortality rate among the cheetah cubs.
•Use in Hunting: One of the earliest reasons for the decline in the number of these cats is their use in hunting by man. The Asiatic Cheetah is the only cat that can be tamed and trained to hunt. The Indian emperor Akbar is believed to have had about 1000 Asiatic Cheetahs that helped him during his hunting expeditions. It is for this reason that these cats were also referred to as the 'hunting leopards' by the British in India. But the sad part is that these animals did not have the tendency of surviving well in captivity, which is why their numbers decreased drastically.
Conservation
Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP ) has been launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Department of Environment of Iran to preserve the population of Asiatic Cheetah left in Iran. Cheetah Friends is another group of young people who are trained to spread awareness amongst people about this beautiful animal. A program had been developed in Iran to train the herders who consider the cat a major threat to their livestock and often confused it with some other carnivore.

The story of the fall of this magnificent animal that once proudly roamed the land from the Arabian Peninsula to India, to being reduced to less than a hundred in number today, is a grim reminder of how human activities have led to large scale wildlife extinction. Having already been listed as a critically endangered species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, there is an urgent need to address the rapid disappearance of this species from the face of the Earth.
Of late, Indian Government has decided to reintroduce the Cheetah's to the Indian sub-continent. Till date, it is one of the most ambitious and big budget wildlife conservation plan of Indian Government.

Cheetah famous as the fastest land animal, has vanished from the jungles of our country due to the rampant hunting by the rulers of the erstwhile royal era. It is believed that the last three Cheetah's available in India are killed by the Maharajah of Surguja in 1947.

The Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh has informed that a meeting of international experts is going to be held in September regarding the conservation of Cheetah. Rajasthan will be the venue for this significant meeting. The main objectives of the meeting will be to draw up a preliminary budget of millions of pounds, require to import Cheetahs from the wild of Africa continent. Also to make plans to build a "breeding nucleus" site from which the animals can be introduced to other areas of India.

Minister said that it is necessary to bring the Cheetahs from the other nations to repopulate them in India. Indian Government has decided to import the Cheetahs from Africa as the African Cheetahs chase their prey in semi-arid, partially forested grasslands similar to their Asian counter parts. It is believed that there are about 1200 Cheetahs available in the lush green canopies of Africa.

Moreover, Indian wildlife experts believes that the introduction of the African Cheetahs will provide better opportunity for husbandry in some areas of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Earlier Indian Government has decided to import a breeding pair of Cheetah from Iran but the fall of Iran's Shah has blocked India's hope of bringing them from Iran. Even the leaders of the Islamic Republic has refuse to provide a sample of tissue to use in a cloning experiment.

The Chairman of the Wildlife Trust Of India, Mr M.K. Ranjitsinh has said that India has abundant of suitable habitats for Cheetahs but are not taken care properly. Moreover he said that, the Cheetah could be an important symbol, a lever to help protect even rarer species in the same areas.

However, wildlife lovers are not at all satisfied with this plan of Indian Government due to the prior poor result of Tiger conservation in India. Due to the boundless hunting, Tigers population in India has reduced from 40, 000 a century ago to just 1, 400. Mr. Jairam Ramesh has admitted that despite the expensive emergency conservation plan which cost £93 million to protect the Tigers, India is speedily loosing its national animal.

Milind Pariwakam, a Tiger expert has said that one of the main reasons behind the loss of Tigers in India are the underpaid forest guards assigned to protect the Tigers. These forest guards are under-equipped and under-trained. This plight of Tigers in India has raised eyebrows on the plan of the Cheetah conservation in India. Wildlife lovers are seriously worried about the Cheetahs as these animals have a very weak immune system, high rates of cub mortality and demanding territorial habits.

However, the supporters of the Cheetah plan has put forward the example of the successful conservation of Asiatic lion in the Gir Forest in Gujarat. This last abode of Asiatic lions now has a population of around 350 lions. Cheetahs To Return to India's Grassland Under Multi-million plan.

After an anxious wait, cheetah reintroduction in India is finally underway with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) giving it the green signal on 28th July 2010. So, where do cheetahs live now? The Middle East, Namibia, Iran and South Africa are some of the countries that proudly boast of housing cheetahs. Thus, the highly ambitious USD 65 million plan of cheetah reintroduction in India involves sourcing of 18 North African cheetahs from these countries and relocating them to three sites in India. Cheetah population in India declined rapidly owing to excessive hunting in the mid-20th century. The Cheetah was last spotted in India in Chhattisgarh in 1967, and thus, the news of reintroduction of this wild cat has left the Indian wildlife enthusiasts overjoyed.

The three sites chosen for the reintroduction of the cheetah species include the Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, both of which are located in Madhya Pradesh, and the Shahgarh landscape in Rajasthan. Around 10 sites representing various landscapes were screened as possible cheetah habitats by a panel of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WTI) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WII). After detailed assessment of each of these sites, three sites were finalized for the ambitious plan of cheetah reintroduction in India. Among the various sites screened, the Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary, which was also the second largest site in the lot, had a definite edge as it has already undergone a significant deal of restoration work for the reintroduction of the Asiatic lions.

In their 28th July meet with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Wildlife Trust of India and the Wildlife Institute of India submitted the feasibility report titled 'Assessing the Potential for Reintroducing the Cheetah in India', to the Environment Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh. On this eve, the honorable environment minister was quoted saying "The way tiger restores forest ecosystem, snow leopard restores mountain ecosystem, Gangetic dolphin restores waters in the rivers, the cheetah will restore grasslands of the country." The panel of experts also emphasized on the need for long-term commitment and proper allocation of resources from the central as well as the state governments.

The project will be carried out in phases over the next three years. Each of the three chosen sites will be required to shell out approximately USD 22 million each for restoration of the landscape. The fact that this wild animal has an important role to play in the grassland biome makes its reintroduction all the more important for a nation with progressively depleting forest cover. Over the last few years, the grasslands of India are declining rapidly and one of the main reasons for this is overgrazing by herbivores. Cheetah reintroduction initiative is expected to curb the incessant growth of herbivores in these regions, and help in restoring the grasslands ecosystem.

One of the best wildlife conservation measures, reintroduction of these large carnivorous species helps in conservation of endangered species and restoration of normalcy in the ecosystem. That being said, cheetah reintroduction in India seems to be the need of the hour to save the dwindling grassland cover in the subcontinent. Cheetah reintroduction efforts will not just help the wildlife flourish but will also play a crucial role in promoting ecotourism in these regions. And most important of all, this initiative will make India the only country to house six of the eight large cats of the family Felidae in kingdom Animalia.
Fact: The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a very fast sprinter. When chasing prey, it can top speeds over 60 miles an hour (97 km). This makes the cheetah the fastest land animal around! And what is the cheetah's top speed? The average top speed of cheetahs is about 64 miles an hour (102 km), and scientists feel this is also a good measurement of how fast a typical cheetah can run.
Fact: For such a swift cat, a cheetah's body is not very long (only about 4 ft/1 m). Even so, in just one bound it can travel 20 feet (6 m), by using its long legs and flexible spine. According to researchers, it's thought that the cheetah's flexible spine alone enables the animal to run an extra 6 miles an hour (9.6 km).
Source: Built for Speed: The Extraordinary, Enigmatic Cheetah.
Fact: Cheetahs belong to the Felidae family, and unlike lions, cannot roar. Cheetahs can purr, however, as well as hiss, growl, whine, and call to each other with chirping birdlike sounds.
Fact: On average, cheetahs chase their prey for about ten seconds. The shorter the chase the better, for all the dust and movement might attract the attention of lions and hyenas-- animals that might decide to take their kills from them.
Source: National Geographic, December 1999, Cheetahs—Ghosts of the Grasslands.
Fact: The famous "tear marks" at the corners of the eyes, are a dead giveaway that what you're looking at is a cheetah, and not a leopard. Cheetahs have solid black spots on a background of yellow or tan fur, and have 4 to 6 black rings at the end of its tail. A combination of spot patterns and ring patterns are a way for humans to identify one cheetah from another.
Fact: Just as athletes apply black grease under their eyes to cut down on the glare from brilliant lights, it is thought that the black markings running down the corners of the cheetah's eyes to its mouth might serve a similar purpose. Unlike lions and leopards, cheetahs hunt mostly during the day, when such antiglare aids would be most helpful.
Did you know? It's rare for cheetahs to climb trees. They can jump onto low hanging branches and fallen trees, but adult cheetahs are not good climbers.
Fact: Cheetahs hunt in a sequence of maneuvers known as "chase-trip-bite." After stalking its prey until it gets within a close range, the cheetah suddenly rushes its victim in a surprise attack. Using the only sharp claw on it's front paw-- the dewclaw-- the cheetah trips the animal, and then clamps down on the animal's throat