Breeding habits of Cheetahs

The cheetahs exhibit a polygynous mating system where one male can mate with multiple females. Moreover, male cheetahs only associate with females during mating. The male does not provide any assistance in parental care. Additionally, a female cheetah may mate with more than one male when in heat. Interestingly, the same litter can produce cubs of different fathers!

Like with the other big cats, the gestation period for cheetah is about three months. After which the female gives birth to a litter of between 2 and 5 cubs

Like other cats, cheetahs cubs are born blind and helpless. Nevertheless, the mother leaves the cubs in the nest after a day to hunt. This duration is the time the cubs are most vulnerable. After about six weeks, the cubs accompany the mother for hunts. As such, the cubs are also attacked by other predators, especially lions, hyenas, and leopards. It is no wonder that less than 10% of cheetahs’ cubs survive into adulthood.

Threats faced by Cheetahs

In 1900, cheetahs populations were estimated at over 100,000 individuals in the wild. Now, only about 7,000 cheetahs live in the wilderness of Africa. It is the most endangered of the big cats because of the following reasons:

Illegal trade of Cheetahs

Cheetah’s skin is a hot commodity in the illegal wildlife trade. Moreover, some people target cheetah cubs for pets. The illicit trade of the cat is rife in the East Africa region, particularly Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia. We suspect that the Middle East is the destination of most cubs.

The retaliatory killing of cheetahs

Unlike most of the other predators, cheetahs do not do well in national reserves and parks. This occurs because there is heightened competition for prey at reserves. The predators would kill cheetahs and their cubs at any opportunity. As such, there is a significant cheetah population in community lands across Africa (over 80% of cheetahs are in community lands.

The fact that cheetahs inhabit community lands and hunt during the day means they could attack livestock in herding. In many cases, a cheetah would attack a sheep or goat when the herder is not in proximity. Another sad reality is that in Africa’s pastoral communities, children herd the livestock. The predator will not even see the children while pursuing prey as children are not intimidating enough.

Herders retaliate after their livestock is killed. Cheetahs and other predators are sometimes poisoned or speared.

The good news is that many conservation organizations in Africa have a compensation scheme in the event herders lose their livestock to cheetahs or other predators. Consequently, retaliation attacks reduce in areas with compensation schemes.

Loss of habitat

Cheetahs require extensive home ranges for survival. An ideal range for one cheetah would be hundreds of kilometers or miles squared. However, human encroachment is limiting the habitat for cheetahs. The implication of reduced habitats means that they will compete more with other predators like lions, hyenas, and leopards, a fight which they will quickly lose.

Lack of genetic diversity

Cheetahs are famous for their lack of genetic variation. The species barely avoided extinction at the end of Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago. After that, there was widespread inbreeding, which led to a loss of genetic diversity. Consequently, cheetahs are prone to diseases and have low sperm quality. The situation is complicated by habitat loss that further reduces genetic diversity.

What Can you do to save Cheetahs in Africa?

You can seek to support the conservation efforts in Africa’s protected areas. This support could be achieved in a variety of ways, including:

• Donating to organizations working with protecting cheetahs in Africa
• Spreading the word by supporting bloggers such as ourselves through sharing content
• Not participating in the illegal wildlife trade.

Breeding habits of lions

The male and female lions are polygamous and would breed throughout the year. However, females are restricted to one or two males in their pride during mating. The copulation process is intense as the pair mate up to 50 times in a day, after every 20 minutes.  This copulation process happens for 3-4 consecutive days when the female is on heat. The prolonged copulation seeks to stimulate ovulation and secures the paternity of the offspring as it excludes other males. Like the other cats, lions’ penises have backward-pointing spines that seek to stimulate the lions to ovulate while mating.

The gestation period for lions is about 3.5-4 months. A lioness would give birth to between 1 and 6 cubs, but the range of 2-4 is more common.

The cubs are born blind with dark spots which disappear as they grow. Cubs will accompany their mothers by three months and are weaned at six months. They can participate in kills when they are about one year old. However, they cannot survive in the wild by themselves until they are two years.

Male cubs are expelled from the pride at about three years of age. Similarly, some female cubs are expelled while others are retained in the pride when they attain three years. Expelled females may immediately join other prides or become nomads to join prides later. However, some male lions remain nomads for life as they are unable to take over prides. Mating opportunities for nomads are scarce.

Although males mature at three years, they will need to be at least five years before attempting to take over a pride.

When a male lion or a group of males takes over a pride, they would immediately kill the cubs in the pride. The purpose of the infanticide is to shorten the time needed for the lionesses to mate again. However, lionesses would attempt to protect their cubs from the infanticide by hiding the cubs or directly fighting with the lions. Generally, lionesses have a higher chance of defending older cubs as they were leaving the pride anyways.

Over 80% of lions’ cub die from various reasons, including infanticide. When there is a scarce food supply, lionesses could also abandon their young. Other predators such as hyenas, leopards, and wild dogs could also kill the cubs. In the Masai Mara, I have seen buffaloes trample lion cubs to death.

Threats faced by lions

Most conservation organizations estimate that about 20,000 lions are left in the wild.

Hunted for its Legacy 

The majestic nature of the cat means that the lion is a prized hunting trophy. As such, game hunters feel accomplished by killing lions. Moreover, in some African cultures, such as the Maasais, killing lions is considered a sign of bravery. Such beliefs contribute to the declining number of lions.

The retaliatory killing of lions

Lions also attack livestock, especially cattle and sheep. When they do, community members may poison or spear lions in retaliation. Lions are particularly targeted in retaliation killing because of their apparent ‘contempt’. Many carnivores would flee and leave the carcass when they realize human pursuit. Not the king of the jungle. Sometimes lions would devour a livestock carcass when humans are watching.

The good news is that many conservation organizations in Africa have a compensation scheme in the event herders lose their livestock to lions or other predators. Consequently, retaliation attacks reduce in areas with compensation schemes.

Loss of habitat

As human being population continues to grow, so is development. The growth of agriculture, settlement, and roads means that we continue to encroach to lions’ habitats.

What Can you do to save lions in Africa?

You can seek to support the conservation efforts in Africa’s protected areas. This support could be achieved in a variety of ways, including:

• Donating to organizations working with protecting lions in Africa
• Spreading the word by supporting bloggers such as ourselves through sharing content
• Not participating in the illegal wildlife trade