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20, May 2020.
Introduction:
Saharan cheetah, has been filmed by naturalists in Algeria for the first time in a decade. The animal was spotted in the Hoggar Mountains national park .
Highlights:
- A documentary has been shot on the work of the park’s scientists, which includes images of the cheetah taken in the Atakor volcanic field.
- The Saharan cheetah is quite different in appearance from the other African cheetahs. Its coat is shorter and paler in colour.
- Its range is now limited to isolated pockets across the Sahara and Sahel from Mali in the west to the Central African Republic in the east.
- The subspecies was last seen in the Hoggar Mountains in 2008-10 when four individuals were recorded by camera traps.
- International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated the remaining population in Algeria at just 37 individuals in 2012.
About Saharan Cheetah:
- The Northwest African cheetah, also known as the Saharan cheetah, is a cheetah subspecies native to the Sahara and the Sahel.
- It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- In 2008, the population was suspected to number less than 250 mature individuals.
- Built for speed, cheetahs are slender, with long thin legs and a long tail.
- They have coarse, short fur that is yellowish tan in colour and covered in solid black spots.
- Black tear-shaped streaks on the face help to reflect the sun when hunting.
Adaptations:
- They are predominantly nocturnal and can subsist without access to water for several days by obtaining water from the blood of the prey.