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CNN Live At Daybreak

Cheetah Races Against Extinction

Aired July 02, 2001 - 08:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a cheetah could win any foot race, no problem.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. But the race against extinction is a little bit of a tougher climb for it. CNN's Gary Strieker reports now on an effort to save the cheetah in a place that might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deep in the dry ravine, there's no sign of the predator's tracks. But the remains of its kills are still here, mountain sheep and goats hunted down at lightning speed by a cheetah. Here in central Iran, this is the territory of the big cats, but few people ever see them. Hussein Malahi (ph) says in 16 years as a game ranger, he's seen cheetahs here only three times. Twice they were already dead, shot by poachers.

The cheetah is the fastest land animal on Earth, in a sprint reaching more than 70 miles an hour to close in on a kill. But cheetahs are losing their race for survival. Forced out of their hunting grounds by farmers and ranchers with domestic livestock, isolated populations now suffer from inbreeding. In just 20 years, the number of the world's cheetahs has dropped by more than half. In all of Africa, only about 12,000 survive. And outside Africa, the cheetah is even more critically endangered. An Asiatic sub-species with a long history of conflict with humans now confined to just a few remote areas in Iran.

(on camera): Some experts believe only about 40 Asiatic cheetahs still survive in the wild. Others say there must be more. Nobody really knows. But everyone agrees most of the cheetahs are now holding out here, in the high desert wilderness of Dareh-Anjeel.

(voice-over): The cheetah is legally protected in Iran and all hunting is prohibited in Dareh-Anjeel. Hussein spends most of his time patrolling this area, trying to safeguard the interests of the cheetahs. He says the cats are threatened not only by poachers, but also by people who bring livestock here, over grazing the vegetation that supports the prey animals that sustain the cheetahs. In this serious drought, authorities provide water and supplemental food for wild gazelles, sheep and goats, benefiting the entire food chain with the cheetah at the top.

But conservationists say there's no future for the cheetah in Iran unless a major effort is made to save them.

ESMAIL KAHROM, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: I think we have to establish where they are, how many they are and then establish some reserve for them for the protection of their habitat, for themselves and at least but not least, we probably have to establish captive breeding centers for them.

STRIEKER: The Iranian government has now agreed to cooperate with international experts on a special conservation program for cheetahs and for this animal that could mean the difference between survival and extinction.

Gary Strieker, CNN, Dareh-Anjeel, Iran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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