The Spots Are Fading
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By Fiona Macleod Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 31December,2003
There are fewer cheetahs in South Africa than spots on a single animal.
In the time that it takes to get to 2014, South Africa's fastest land mammal could streak into oblivion. The sleek, spotted cheetah can move from zero to 100kph in less than three seconds, but it seems unable to outrun humans in the race for survival.
"The spots are fading" as there are less than 1 000 cheetahs left in South Africa. Of those, only between 250 and 400 are free-roaming in their natural habitat. In fact, there are fewer cheetahs in South Africa than spots on a single animal.
Being timid, non-aggressive animals by nature, cheetahs are mostly found outside conservation areas, on commercial farmlands where they do not have to compete with stronger predators. But many farmers regard them as a threat to their livestock and indiscriminately shoot them.
Commercial game farmers with small, densely stocked farms are adding to the cheetah's demise. They surround their farms with game-proof fences, to keep the prey in and the predators out.
When cheetahs manage to breach the fences, they find a "purrfect" restaurant stocked with prey animals - but find it difficult to leave. They often end up becoming the "scape-cat" as they are caught scavenging at a kill that is not their doing.
"The real challenge in saving these cats is to find ways that game farmers and cheetahs can coexist," says Gus Mills, big cat specialist at South African National Parks. "We need to work out how they can become of economic use to the farmers."
As cheetah sightings in game reserves become more rare, the elegant cats become more of a tourist drawcard. Private reserves such as Sabi Sabi and Phinda have turned cheetah photographic safaris into a speciality.
The largest and most viable free-roaming cheetah populations are found in large national parks such as Kruger and Kgalagadi. Extending these parks into transfrontier conservation areas may help keep these cheetah populations intact.
A big part of the problem is that cheetahs have very low levels of genetic variation and do not breed well in captivity.
Two privately funded outfits - the De Wildt Cheetah and Wild- life Trust, based near Hartebeespoort, and the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Foundation in Limpopo - are focusing on saving free-roaming cheetahs found on farmlands.
Both outfits assist in relocating "problem animals" from farmlands and releasing them in areas where the cheetahs are welcome. A controversial aspect of these rescues has been the introduction of "rewards" of thousands of rands offered to entice farmers to save cheetahs rather than eradicate them. The outfits argue they need to cover the cost of the relocations, which can be up to R25 000 per animal.
In May this year De Wildt launched the Fading Spots Project. This includes an ambitious census of free-roaming cheetahs covering some eight million hectares of farmlands in South Africa. Only when the status of this group of cheetahs is known can a management plan for the future be devised.
Cheetahs are the ultimate speedsters. They have long, slim, muscular legs; a small, rounded head set on a long neck; a flexible spine; a deep chest; non-retractable claws and special pads on their feet for traction; and a long, long tail for balance. They have distinctive black "tear stripes" descending from each eye that probably serve as antiglare devices, but also make them look sad.
Considering they are the oldest of the world's 37 cat species and are staring extinction in the face, perhaps they have a right to look sad. More than four million years ago they were found in most of Africa, the plains of southern Asia, the Middle East and India. Now they are restricted to a handful of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The spots are fading.
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