World Animal Day 2024

October 4th – and everyday – we celebrate the diversity of life on Earth! Home to nearly one-quarter of all mammal species found on Earth, and nearly one-fifth of the world’s birds, Africa holds some of the planet’s most biodiverse regions. In fact, the continent harbors nine of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots. However, factors like habitat loss and fragmentation, conflict with humans, and the illegal wildlife trade threaten biodiversity – and climate change is exacerbating many of these risks. Today, there are more than 163,000 species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species – including 45,300 threatened with extinction. Cheetahs are currently classified as ‘Vulnerable’ on the list – but two subspecies, the Asiatic cheetah and the Northwest African cheetah, are classified as ‘Critically Endangered.’Just last year, the subspecies found in the Horn of Africa, the Northeast African cheetah, was uplisted to ‘Endangered’

Protecting apex predators, like cheetahs, provides a multitude of ecological benefits. In the wild, these top predators play a vital ecological role, providing ecological balance by regulating prey populations, and helping to boost overall biodiversity. Cheetahs are also known for roaming, and these wide-ranging cats are found in more than half of Africa’s ecoregions – and their presence often overlaps with areas rich in biodiversity. However, most of the continent’s remaining cheetahs are found outside protected areas, increasing their chances of encountering humans – or domestic animals. 

Halting biodiversity loss and protecting natural habitats are both vital to our efforts to keep cheetahs in the wild, including advocating for wildlife-friendly land use practices outside protected areas to prevent conflicts between people and predators. This land-sharing approach to coexistence benefits cheetahs – along with a myriad of other species, and the human communities that share the landscape.