Overview of long-term health, reproduction, and genetic research on Namibian cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Abstract

Conflict between humans and large carnivores is well documented in Africa, and is one of the chief causes of cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, population declines (Marker, 2002). The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), with its international base in Namibia, has been conducting long-term research since 1991 on cheetah and their farmland ecosystem. Surveys conducted by CCF with Namibian farmers indicated the majority (90%) of cheetahs were removed as a preventative measure by livestock and game farmers, not in response to actual losses caused by “conflict animals” (Marker, 2002). From these removals, CCF has opportunistically conducted biomedical studies on over 1600 collections from over 800 cheetahs. This talk summarizes an over-view of CCF ’s published findings to-date on disease, reproduction and genetics of the Namibian cheetah (Marker, 2002).