From 100,000 to 7,100: How the World's Fastest Animal Faced a 99% Population Collapse

Did you know that cheetahs can't actually roar? Unlike big lions or tigers, they make a purr sound just like a normal house cat! These awesome animals are scientifically called Acinonyx jubatus. They mostly live in open dry grasslands, savannas and deserts. They do really well in these places because they can run so fast. But sadly, they are in big danger today. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, classifies them as Vulnerable. This basically means they are at a high risk of going extinct. Do you know which country has the biggest cheetah population in the world? Let's find out.

Which Country has the largest cheetah population in the world?

Namibia actually has the most wild cheetahs in the whole entire world. Right now, there are around 3400 of these super-fast cats living there. That's almost half of all the wild cheetahs left on the planet.

Namibia is even called the 'Capital of Cheetahs' because everyone there works so hard to save them. Most of these big cats don't even live in regular public parks; they actually live on huge private farms.

10 Countries With the Largest Cheetah Populations in the World

Other countries in the southern and eastern parts of Africa have the rest of them. Botswana is in second place with about 1700 cats. Places like Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa also have some pretty big groups of them too.

Outside of Africa, there's only a tiny group left. Like, only about 12 Asiatic cheetahs are still surviving in Iran.

How Did Cheetahs Collapse From 100,000 to 7,100?

In the year 1900, there were more than 100,000 cheetahs roaming across Africa and Asia. Today, scientists think there are only about 7100 wild cheetahs left. That's a huge 93% drop! How did this tragedy happen?

First off, people have taken over 90% of the land where cheetahs used to live. Forests and grasslands got turned into towns, roads, and big farms. This is called habitat loss, and it leaves the cats with no place to run or hunt.

Second, there's a big problem with low genetic diversity. Around 12000 years ago, a historical event called a 'population bottleneck' happened. Almost all the cheetahs died out, and only a few survived. 

Modern cheetahs share a close genetic link because they have a small number of ancestors. They are almost like identical twins. If a bad illness hits, it can quickly wipe out a whole group because their bodies fight diseases in the exact same way.

Finally, illegal hunting and poaching play a sad role too. People take cute cheetah cubs from the wild to sell them as illegal exotic pets, and a lot of the cubs die during the journey.

Why Do Namibian Farmers Kill Cheetahs?

You might think people only kill cheetahs for fun but the truth is way more complicated than that. In Namibia, about 90% of cheetahs live outside of protected reserves on big commercial farmlands. This brings them right into contact with humans and it causes a big human-wildlife conflict.

Farmers raise cows sheep and goats to feed their families and make a living. When a cheetah goes onto a farm it might hunt a young calf or a goat. To a poor farmer, losing even one animal is a huge financial loss so farmers often shoot or trap cheetahs. They do this to protect their income from actual or perceived livestock kills.

Luckily, conservation groups are finding clever ways for humans and cheetahs to coexist together. One amazing solution is the Livestock Guarding Dog Program. Organisations train special Anatolian Shepherd dogs and give them to local farmers. These big, loud dogs are great at scaring cheetahs away without even hurting them.

Since the dogs protect the livestock farmers don't feel the need to shoot the cheetahs anymore. This simple idea has cut livestock losses by more than 80% in some places and it shows that humans and big cats can safely share the same land.