Ancient pic at the Northern tip of the Voortrekker road!
Excellent info, PN!
They are incredible, IMO, as an example of a dead end in apex evolution...in other words they have reached the end of the line regarding perfection in their niche.
Their sparse distribution will hamper and end any further development/genetic rejuvenation?
Interestingly a few were brought from Namibia to Kruger in the heydays of the 70's - 80's to tackle the genetic problem...long foreseen!
There is just one problem with the genetic part.
They can all be traced back to one specific G- nome.
That means no matter where you get the cat from there will always be inbreeding.
"Longing for the bush is a luxury many have.
Living in the bush is a luxury that only a few have"
The most famous cheetah variation is the King Cheetah. The fur is a bit longer and silkier, and the spot pattern is strikingly different large blotches and thick stripes instead of the usual small round spots. Because of this remarkably different appearance, the king cheetah was originally assumed to be a different species, possibly a cheetah and leopard hybrid. It has been called the Mazoe Leopard or the Cooper's Cheetah, and was originally classified as Acinonyx rex. The king coat pattern occurs when both parents pass on the recessive gene for it, which can happen even if the parents don't have the king coat pattern themselves. Both king and spotted cubs can occur in the same litter. Since king cubs can be born to normal spotted parents, the King Cheetah is not a separate species or even subspecies, so the Acinonyx rex classification has been retracted. Any cheetah could be a carrier for this trait, but currently the only way to know is if they parent a cub with the king coat pattern.
The king coat pattern may help cheetahs blend in better in wooded areas, where they have been known to live when their traditional habitat is not available. The historical record doesn't clearly identify king cheetahs, so it's possible that this is a relatively recent mutation. The first recorded king sighting was in 1926. King cheetahs have been seen primarily in southeastern Africa, in or near Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia, including part of Kruger National Park). However none have been seen in the wild since the early to mid 1990's. While it's not technically possible for the king cheetah to become extinct (because they aren't a separate species), this is still bad news.
Although there haven't been any recent wild sightings, there are king cheetahs in captivity. Some of these were originally taken from the wild while others were born in captivity. If the wild population no longer carries the king cheetah genes, it might be possible to reintroduce the trait through breeding programs.
"Longing for the bush is a luxury many have.
Living in the bush is a luxury that only a few have"
