Monday, July 27, 2009

ENDANGERED


There are many animals in our world which are facing the threat of extinction. The cheetah is one among them. Destruction of natural habitat is the main cause for the decline of population of many animals. But in the cheetah’s case other wild animals are also a big cause for the threats they are facing. Lions kill cheetah cubs without hesitation whenever they find them. Other predators like hyenas also hunt cheetah cubs if possible.Although the cheetah is the fastest land animal it is very inferior to most of the big cats and other predators in terms of physical strength. A full grown cheetah can never defend its cubs against a lioness and if within range even adult cheetahs are easily killed by lions. This seemingly cruel act may be because the lions don’t want any competition in hunting for prey. Most of the cheetah hunts are successful because of their superior speed but the prey that they killed can be easily snatched away by lions or hyenas. Efforts are done by many organizations like raising them in captivity, protecting them against poachers etc to improve their population.