International Cheetah Day | 05 Dec 2024

Source: ICD 

Every year 4^th December is marked as International Cheetah Day since 2010. The day is dedicated to emphasizing global efforts to prevent the cheetah's extinction and promote its conservation. 

• American zoologist, Dr. Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in 1991, designated this day in honor of Khayam, a cheetah she raised. 
• About Cheetah: 
  • Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are part of the felidae family and are among the oldest big cat species, with their ancestry dating back over 5 million years to the Miocene era (geological period from 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago). 
  • They are the world’s fastest land mammals, found in parts of Africa and Asia. 
  • They have vanished from over 75% of their historic range in Africa, with their population declining by more than 30% in the past two decades.  
  • Namibia has the world's largest population of cheetahs. 
  • Under the Cheetah Reintroduction Project, cheetahs were translocated to India from Namibia and South Africa in 2022 and 2023.

Read More: One Year of Project Cheetah