Cheetahs are "sprinting" to extinction due to habitat loss and other forms of human impact, according to a new study out this week which called for urgent action to save the world's fastest land animals. Cheetah numbers in Zimbabwe have plunged by more than 85 percent in 16 years and fewer than 50 individuals survive in Iran, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) warned. The report's authors said cheetahs should be listed as "Endangered" instead of "Vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that just 7,100 cheetahs remain in the wild, occupying just nine percent of the territory they once lived in. There were an estimated 100,000 cheetahs at the beginning of the 20th century, according to previous estimates.
Cheetahs travel widely in search of prey with some home ranges estimated at up to 3,000 square kilometres. The study found that 77 percent of the animal's remaining habitat falls outside protected areas, leaving it especially vulnerable to human interference.
