Everyone knows the astonishing story of the cheetah's genetic predicament. In the early 1980s, American researchers stunned conservation circles when they announced that cheetahs were as inbred as laboratory mice. The evidence suggested that the world's fastest mammal had undergone a catastrophic population bottle-neck around 10,000 years ago and had been reduced to a handful of individuals: one theory proposed that a single pregnant female was the sole reason the species was not lost forever. Whether cheetahs owe their existence to a feline Eve or, more likely, to a pocket population which gradually bred and replenished numbers, the estimated 12,000 cheetahs living today are viewed as one large, closely related clan.

Such extraordinary genetic similarity could have serious implications for survival. Widely considered to be the most specialised of cats, cheetahs are thought to be highly vulnerable to change. Altered ecological conditions such as climatic variation, the appearance of new viral and bacterial strains, and environmental changes wrought by man such as the clearing of habitat might sound the cheetah's death knell. With their poor genetic variability, conservationists fear the cheetah will be unable to respond to shifts in such survival conditions and so may die out.

Surprisingly though, it seems that many of the fears are unfounded. Increasingly, we are learning that cheetahs are far more adaptable than generally thought and that genetic similarity is not the heart of the cheetah's conservation dilemma. Widely depicted as a strict savannah specialist subsisting largely on gazelle-sized antelopes, recent research is revealing them to be versatile hunters and capable of existing in diverse habitats.

Where their optimum hunting terrain of open expanses just does not exist, cheetahs are able to turn apparent obstacle into advantage. Under the cover of dense woodland, cheetahs tackle prey normally beyond their grasp on the open plains.

In South Africa's lush KwaZulu-Natal province, cheetahs specialise in hunting nyala, a woodland antelope which, at 120 kilograms in the male, is up to four times the size of typical prey. Even more impressively, I've watched alliances of male cheetahs hunt young giraffes in thick Acacia bushveld where the broken habitat renders the calf's mother powerless to intervene. In open country, adult giraffes cluster protectively around the youngsters and cheetahs risk death from a well-aimed kick if they are foolhardy enough to challenge the defence.

Cheetahs are found in the arid mountains of Algeria, the dense bush of Kenya's Kora Reserve and even where the Sahara desert stretches across Mali, Niger and Chad. Indeed, the largest single population of cheetahs in the world exists, not (as suggested by nearly every cheetah documentary ever filmed) on the Serengeti's famous short grass plains, but rather in the thick thornveld of central and northern Namibia.

However, if cheetahs seem to have thwarted the bleak predictions of the geneticists, it would be a mistake to believe the species is out of danger. For all their unexpected adaptability, cheetahs still face one overwhelming, inevitable threat - us. Human encroachment is decimating suitable habitat and prey, and persecution is still widespread. While Namibia's cheetah numbers are the largest of any African country, there is only half of the estimated population of 20 years ago. In the time since geneticists sounded their warning, at least 10,000 cheetahs have been killed or removed from that country alone.

Formerly occurring Africa-wide, cheetahs now survive in perhaps 26 countries and only in five or six are populations large enough to be considered sustainable.

With such intense human pressure, can the cheetah survive? People are the cheetah's principal threat but they may also represent their salvation. Ironically, where people have wiped out their main competitors, cheetahs have the capacity to thrive. In most national parks and reserves, cheetahs have to compete with a high density of ecologically dominant carnivores such as lions, leopards and hyaenas. Physically too frail to confront other large predators, cheetahs lose many kills and occasionally, are themselves killed.

More importantly, cheetah cubs are extremely vulnerable to other predators and in some populations, female cheetahs may lose up to 95% of their cubs, mostly to predation by lions. However, if dangerous predators leave conservation areas, they compete forspace with man who - unintentionally - may create a predator-free refuge for the beleaguered cheetah. Outside the national parks of Kenya and Tanzania, where the pastoral Maasai are quick to kill any threat to their cattle, lions, hyaenas and leopards rarely survive long. The Maasai know the cheetah is not a great stock-killer and, providing they leave cattle alone, the Maasai largely ignore them. Where such understanding exists, farmland cheetahs may be better off than their protected cousins.

So, the key to conservation of the world's fastest mammal rests more with the private individuals and farming communities who share their land with cheetahs, rather than within official protected areas. But enlightenment such as the Maasai's is unusual and the challenge facing conservationists is to foster tolerance for cheetahs among people who have traditionally killed them on sight. In Namibia, where an estimated 95% of 2,000 - 3,000 cheetahs live on private lands, farmer education programmes are overcoming ignorance and teaching practices which minimise sources of conflict.

Many farmers grow up believing that all predators are the enemy and are surprised when shown that cheetahs are reluctant to take livestock except where their normal prey species have been wiped out. The introduction of novel techniques such as housing stock when vulnerable calves or lambs are present, using electrified fencing to 'teach' cheetahs to avoid stock areas and capturing known stock-killers for translocation is reducing the potential for stock loss and illustrating that outright extermination of cheetahs is not the only alternative.

Namibia's Cheetah Conservation Fund is even donating Anatolian Shepherd dogs to farmers. Dogs have always been used to protect stock in Namibia, but traditionally-used breeds attempt to herd the stock to safety, in doing so creating movement and panic in the herd - irresistible to a sight hunter such as the cheetah. The Anatolian shepherds are bonded to the herd and actively defend livestock against cheetahs, which rarely stand their ground in the face of a confident challenge from a large dog.

In neighbouring South Africa, increasingly enlightened attitudes towards wildlife hold further promise for the cheetah. Following the country's new dispensation, a huge surge in 'ecotourism' is driving a reappraisal of historical land uses. The demand from foreign visitors is for wildlife and land-owners in marginal farmlands are realising that the most productive use of their land may arise from the wild animals they had driven out decades earlier.

Private and government reserves are re-establishing wildlife to attract the tourism dollar and big cats, including cheetahs, are high on the wish-list. Most of them come from Namibia.

Despite the best efforts of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and other cheetah conservation organisations such as Africat, there is still considerable persecution. Where unresolvable conflict exists and in the case of known stock-killers, translocation to the emerging South African reserves gives a second chance to animals which would almost certainly end up dead.

Such re-introduction projects are not without their obstacles. Big cats have an extraordinary ability to 'home' and attempt to head straight back there, even if home is over 800 kilometres away. Such a journey inevitably carries them into conflict with people - the reason they were relocated in the first place - and few such nomads get a third chance. However, if cheetahs are housed at the release site in large enclosures before being set free, they seem much more inclined to settle in and regard the new reserve as their own. A few weeks of acclimatisation overcomes the trauma of capture and translocation and upon release cheetahs rapidly set about finding food and water, establishing home ranges, and breeding.

"Reclaimed" conservation areas have many features to encourage success. A lack of resident cheetahs, low numbers of competing carnivores and an abundance of prey create a "cheetah-friendly" environment where the released cats quickly find a niche. Despite a history of poor reproduction in captivity, wild cheetahs are prodigious breeders and from a founding population of a dozen reintroduced adults, their numbers can quadruple in five years. The South African projects are yielding useful data which are being applied to similar re-establishment efforts elsewhere, including Zambia and Zimbabwe.

All of which combine to give the cheetah a fair running start in its race to evade extinction. It certainly needs all the help it can get. Despite the dedication of cheetah conservationists and the species' own unanticipated adaptability, the threats facing them today are greater than ever before. The cheetah's flexibility in different habitats, its considerable reproductive capacity and its ability to live alongside us is of little use unless humans decide to give them a chance.

Like most large carnivores in Africa, and around the world, the future of the cheetah is truly in our hands.

A Body Built for Speed

Reliably timed at 105km/h (but probably not its top speed), the cheetah is almost twice as fast as the best racehorse. Highly specialised modifications to the basic cat form contribute to making it the fastest land mammal on the planet:

A highly flexible spine enables the cheetah to further increase its stride length by at least 11%.

The tail is long, tubular and muscular, providing counter-balance for rapid direction changes during the chase.

The collar bone (clavicle) is missing, freeing up the shoulder joint and further increasing stride length (most cat species have a reduced or missing clavicle, not just the cheetah).

Among the less obvious adaptations for speed are in the cheetah's small head. Shortened jaws have smaller canine teeth than other cats: the reduced roots of the canines make room for an enlarged nasal cavity, important for increased air intake while the cheetah suffocates it prey. This allows the exhausted cat to maintain the throttling throat hold and still inhale enough to recover from the sprint.

The tear lines. Whether the tear lines have a function or not is still disputed. One theory suggests they act to 'line up' prey, like the crosshairs of a rifle sight. More likely, they reduce glare during the heat of the day when the cheetah does most of its hunting.

The legs. Cheetahs' legs are elongated and, despite looking frail, are surprisingly robust. The bones of the lower leg are the most highly lengthened of any cat species and are bound tightly together with fibrous tissue allowing very little rotation in the lower leg-very important for stability at high speeds.

Paws and claws. Unlike most other cats, cheetahs have reduced claw sheaths and claws which cannot fully retract: the blunt, protruding claws act like runners' spikes to enhance grip. The pads are extremely hard and heavily ridged to increase traction as well as being pointed at the front, possibly to assist rapid breaking. The 'dew claw', the cheetah's equivalent to the thumb, sits high on the 'wrist' and, unlike the other claws, is very sharp and curved-important for hooking prey during the chase.

Cheetah Factfile

Size
Males 29-65kg, 74-94cm at shoulder, 172-224cm nose to tail. Females 21-63kg, 67-84cm at shoulder, 174-236cm nose to tail.

Habitat
Prefer open grassland and woodland savannah. Occur at altitudes of up to 1,500m in the mountains of Ethiopia and in arid areas including the Kalahari and Sahara. Absent from the humid forests of West and Central Africa.

Diet and Hunting Behaviour
Mostly small and medium-sized antelopes such as impala and gazelle. Male coalitions are capable of taking large animals (such as adult wildebeest, gemsbok and eland) and the young of ungulates which repel attacks by single cheetahs (such as giraffes and zebras). Primarily diurnal, probably to offset competition with nocturnal carnivores such as lions and hyaenas and also to maximise visibility of the terrain during high-speed chases. Very rarely scavenges.

Breeding Biology
Gestation: 90-98 days. Litter size: up to nine cubs, averages three-four. Breeds all year round, though birth peaks have been reported in East Africa in the rainy season (November-May). Cubs gain independence from the mother at 12-20 months (average 18 months). Females can conceive from 24 months and males are sexually mature from 12 months though usually don't get a chance to breed until their third year.

Social System
Females are solitary and do not defend a territory. May wander over very large areas (up to 1,500km2). Males establish territories where possible: usually coalitions of males are more successful at territorial defence than single males. These territories average 37.4 km2 in the Serengeti, though they may be much larger in Namibia. Single males are more likely to be nomadic and non-residents have much larger home ranges (average 777km2 in the Serengeti).

Top Cheetah Spots
Cheetahs rarely occur in the densities which make lions so conspicuous, but their diurnal habits and preference for open spaces means they are one of the most visible of cat species. Although there are few places in Africa where a sighting is absolutely guaranteed, there are numerous reserves where chances of seeing these beautiful cats are very high indeed. These include:

Serengeti Plains, Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya and Tanzania. Home to one of the largest contiguous populations in any protected area, the short grass plains makes finding and viewing cheetahs very rewarding. The Aitong area in the Masai Mara has particularly high numbers.

Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana. The pan environment is ideal cheetah habitat. Year-round congregations of springbok at the waterhole near South Camp provide many chances to witness hunts.

Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. The plains around Ngweshla camp site are one of the best places to look for cheetahs, but highnumbers of lions mean they tend to move widely and can be difficult to locate.

Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe. The cheetah population here is fairly small but they concentrate along the rich, open habitat of Lake Kariba's foreshore where there are large herds of prey animals.

Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, South Africa. The Auob River bed in the Kalahari is probably one of the finest places in southern Africa to see cheetahs hunting, particularly during March-April when herds congregate in the riverbed following the rains.

Phinda Resource Reserve, South Africa. Despite having a small population, Phinda's cats are habituated to vehicles and its guides are proficient at locating cheetah.

Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia. Cheetah numbers here seem to be increasing and translocation projects are replenishing the population. Jeki Plain is probably the best place to look.

Central and West Africa. Reserves in southern and East Africa can't be matched for cheetah viewing, but for really intrepid wildlife watchers, there is a very slim chance of seeing cheetahs in Niger's Reserve Naturelle Nationale de L'Air et du Tenere, Iran's Khar Touran National Park, and Park National du W, a large transfrontier reserve bordering Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Ten: Winter 1999/2000 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)