Scientists capture photograph of rare Saharan cheetah
Niamey, Niger (AHN) – A rare Saharan cheetah was photographed using a night time camera trap.
Scientists think fewer than 10 of the elusive big cats exist in the deserts of Termit, Niger, where this one was photographed after a year of searching for the beast.
Scientists working with the Saharan Conservation Fund photographed the cheetah. However, they weren’t easy to find. Although conservationists have been working in the area since 2000, they had only seen cheetahs three times.
The shy Saharan cheetah had never been photographed and little is known about it.
Scientists know that it has adapted to living in an area with high temperatures and no permanent source of water.
They say it appears to have a different color and spot pattern than other cheetahs living elsewhere in Africa. However, they do not know if it is more closely related to other cheetahs living in Africa or if it is more closely related to the last remaining Asiatic cheetahs, which live in Iran.
The Saharan Conservation fund has been searching for and documenting larger predators that live in the inhospitable region.
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