Scientists confirm that 7.100 cheetahs left and they call to change your current status to "endangered" on the IUCN red list.
The fastest animal on the planet, the cheetah, is heading straight on the edge of extinction and it could soon be lost if no action is taken to conserve this species, according to a recently published study.
Led by the Zoological Society of London, the study reveals that there are only 7.100 cheetahs left in the world, representing the best estimate for this species today. The cheetah has lost 91% of its native population, while the Asian populations almost touch the canvas, having nothing more than 50 individuals on a remnant island in Iran.
Due to the dramatic decline of the species, the study authors are calling for the species to be listed from vulnerable to "endangered" on the red list of threatened species. Entry on this list would allow it to be classified as "endangered" and thus be the center to preserve it from imminent extinction.
Among the reasons for the degradation in numbers, is the persecution both outside and inside protected areas that are not widely recognized. Even in nature reserves and parks, cheetahs rarely escape the persistent challenges of the conflict between humans and wildlife, especially by overhunting, habitat loss and illegal trade in cheetah parts and trade as exotic animals.
77 percent of the cheetah's habitat is outside protected areas. Because of this the cheetah population in Zimbabwe has fallen from 1.200 to 170 in only 16 years, which represents a loss of 85%.
It is the scientists who are calling for urgent action for the cheetah conversation and who have to move towards a coordination in the regional strategies of the conservation of the species.