Cheetah

[Flutterby]

It is a lot more muscular than a 'normal' cheetah, but doesn't have a lion's tail...but who knows...could be Photoshopped!

[Penga Ndlovu]

about this one of East African, you think he lost her pigmentation ?

It is quite unique, nan! No-one is quite sure!

There are not many known photographs of the East African Cheetah, but on all of them the Cheetahs has no spots.

[Penga Ndlovu]

Distribution
Once found throughout Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, the species is now only found in various countries in Africa, with a small population left in Iran.

Habitat
Cheetahs can be found in open plains, woodland, savannah, highlands up to 2,000 m, and arid regions extending to desert fringes. Habitat is determined more by abundance of prey and lack of other big predators, but a balance of cover and visibility is important.

Territory
Females are not territorial but roam over home ranges that can vary from 50 sq km to over 3,000 sq km on Namibian farmlands. Males establish and defend small territories that overlap with ranges of many females. In Namibia male home ranges average 2,000 sq km but territories they defend are much smaller. Territories are often located where concentrations of game and adequate cover attract large numbers of females. Males warn intruders to stay away from their territories by scent-marking but sometimes fights occur, resulting in serious injury or death.

[Dewi]

Great photos and info coming through on this thread.


Continuing with the kill we saw in the KTP....

The cubs made their way down the hillside towards the mother, who was chirruping to encourage them to feed.

[Penga Ndlovu]

Although many sources list six or more subspecies of cheetah, the taxonomic status of most of these subspecies is unresolved.
Acinonyx rex—the king cheetah was abandoned as a subspecies after it was discovered that the variation was caused by a single recessive gene.
The subspecies Acinonyx jubatus guttatus, the woolly cheetah, may also have been a variation due to a recessive gene. Some of the most commonly recognized subspecies include:

Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus): Asia (Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia)
Northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki): Northwest Africa (Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia) and western Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal)
Acinonyx jubatus raineyii: eastern Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda)
Acinonyx jubatus jubatus: southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia)
Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii: central Africa (Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger, and Sudan)
Acinonyx jubatus velox

[nan]

again Elena...

[Penga Ndlovu]

Asiatic Cheeta (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus)

[Dewi]

Great pics Nan.

Penga, I believe that some of those subspecies have now been grouped together and the current thinking following recent DNA analysis is that there are five sub-species.

A. J. Jubatus - South Africa.
A. J. fearonii - East Africa.
A. J. hecki - Northwest Africa.
A. J. soemmeringii - Somalia to Lake Tchad.
A. J. venaticus - Iran.

The previously described race raddei has been merged with venaticus while the races ngorongoroensis, obergi, raineyi & velox are all included in fearonii.

Due to genetic research, it is now thought that the current species almost died out about 20,000 years ago, but recovered and spread widely in Africa and Asia prior to the current crash in populations.

The Asiatic Cheetah is now extirpated from most of its former range and only a handful of individuals remain in Iran. Recent camera trap studies have shown that these animals have adapted to living in mountainous regions. The last Cheetah sighting in Iraq was way back in 1928, while the last sighting of one in the wild in Israel was on Decwmber 9 1959. The last ones in Jordan were shot in 1962, a mother and cub. The last one in the Sultanate of Oman was shot in Dhofar province in 1977.

There are still rumours of sightings from the border areas of Afghanistan/Pakistan and Iran and also rumours of individuals in Southwestern Asia.

In prehistoric times, a "giant" Cheetah roamed the Mediterranean region and another hunted Pronghorn and other Antelope across the plains of North America.

[nan]

the Asiatic Cheetah seems to be very much more massive

[Penga Ndlovu]

Northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki Or as Dewi pointed out fearonii )