Cheetah

Why in news?

• Cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa are likely to reach too India in the next four to six months and be reintroduced in Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh.

About Cheetah:

• The cheetah is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran.
• The cheetah occurs in a variety of habitats such as savannahs in the Serengeti, arid mountain ranges in the Sahara and hilly desert terrain in Iran.
• The cheetah is threatened by several factors such as habitat loss, conflict with humans, poaching and high susceptibility to diseases.
• The cheetah is now distributed mainly in small, fragmented populations in central Iran and southern, eastern and northwestern Africa.
• In 2016, the global cheetah population was estimated at around 7,100 individuals in the wild
• It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Ecology and behaviour:

• Cheetahs are active mainly during the day,whereas other carnivores such as leopards and lions are active mainly at night
• The cheetah lives in three main social groups, females and their cubs, male "coalitions" and solitary males.
• While females lead a nomadic life searching for prey in large home ranges, males are more sedentary and may instead establish much smaller territories in areas with plentiful prey and access to females.
• It breeds throughout the year, after a gestation of nearly three months.

Asiatic Cheetah:

• The Asiatic cheetah also known as Iranian or Persian cheetah, is a Critically Endangered cheetah subspecies surviving today only in Iran.
• It once occurred from the Arabian Peninsula and Caspian region, Pakistan and India.
• Cheetahs went extinct from India in the 20th century.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Cheetah’:

1. Female cheetahs lead a nomadic life searching for prey in large home ranges, while males are more sedentary

2. Cheetahs went extinct from India in the 20th century

3. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer