Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Washington, D.C.
December 2, 2012
Canon 5D MkII
Quote from Dr. Laurie Marker, the woman who started International Cheetah Day in 2011:
"I chose 4 December in honour of Khayam, the cheetah who brought me to Namibia in 1977.
I pioneered research in finding what steps were necessary to teach a captive born cheetah how
to hunt. In the course of doing so, I found that farmers were killing cheetahs indiscriminately
and someone needed to work with the farmers to stop the killing. It is because of Khayam and
the work that I saw needed to be done in securing a place for wild cheetahs, that I founded the
Cheetah Conservation Fund."
The cheetah is not only the fastest, but the oldest of all the big cats. It has survived over 3 million
years through the Ice Age and a genetic bottleneck, only to have its numbers decimated by almost
90 percent in the last 100 years. With only 10,000 animals remaining in the wild, the cheetah
population faces more threats than ever before, all of them originating with humans.
Threats include human-wildlife conflict – manifesting in the form of livestock herders who shoot
cheetahs thinking they pose a threat to their flocks. Another concern is the alarming number of wild
cheetahs that die in the process of being captured and sold for the illegal pet trade.
This is part of DA's
International Cheetah Day Challenge. Check it out!
© 2013 Kristina Truluck
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