Conservation of Cheetah

Project Animal(s) : Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Project Category : Mammals
Project Region : Africa
Project Type : Conservation
Project URL : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=107
Project is timebound? : No

The cheetah is included in Appendix I of CITES and it is fully protected throughout most of its range. Moreover, the cheetah is included in Appendix I of the CMS. Hunting is prohibited in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Afghanistan. Trophy hunting is permitted in Zimbabwe and in a number of countries it is legal to kill cheetahs in defence of life and livestock. No information is available for Chad and Sudan.

One important conservation measure for the cheetah is the promotion of better livestock management to reduce conflicts with humans. Another measure is the assurance of enough prey availability to the cheetah in an attempt to reduce livestock depredation. Further measures include the improvement of monitoring, surveys and information exchange as well as capacity building, the promotion of human-cheetah coexistence, enforcement of policy and legislation along with the insurance that national land use planning allows viable cheetah populations.

To improve cheetah conservation several networks have been established such as the Global Cheetah Forum and the North African Regional Cheetah Action Group. In addition a Cheetah Conservation Compendium was created by the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group containing a reference library and detailed country information. Most of the range states are involved in the Range Wide Conservation Program for Cheetah and African Wild Dogs. This program supports the development of Regional Strategies and National Action Plans, according to IUCN guidelines. A global conservation strategy for the cheetah has been developed and several range states have created national action plans or conservation strategies. For southern and eastern Africa regional conservation strategies have been developed. National Action Plans are in place for Benin, Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Conservation work is challenged at many levels: unstable political situations, non-existent enforcement where conservation regulations are in place, lack of incentives for local people to be engaged in conservation efforts, the need to raise awareness of conservation and environmental issues, little or no capacity and financial means to support a conservation approach and generally pressures from a rising human population.

Project Agency : Cat Specialist Group

Project Agency Contact : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=1

Additional Information :

http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=13