**7. Conclusion**

The outlook for the cheetah is today in human's hands. Cheetah populations can rebound. But humans also have the capacity to save them. In many parts of Africa, cheetahs and other large predators are viewed as threats to human livelihoods, rather than species vital to maintaining healthy, balanced ecosystems. Good livestock management can protect herds while allowing prey and room for cheetahs and other predators. Having thriving cheetah populations also brings economic value to land as they and other predator species help drive tourism.

Implementation of more programs now is critical, so future generations will benefit from having cheetahs on earth. Continuing to expand our scientific research will be important (**Figure 4**), while collaborating with international institutions in fields such as cheetah health, genetics, reproduction, ecology to establish population numbers, as well as expanding training and capacity building programs will be key in cheetah conservation, while expanding efforts to stop the illegal cheetah trafficking. If we wait much longer, we will lose this amazing feline icon of speed and grace. A holistic approach that considers all stakeholders is critical to balance the needs of people, wildlife and the land and try to make their efforts sustainable. This way, the communities are more likely to be good stewards of wildlife. The end goal to save the cheetah is to achieve coexistence. This is the only way to ensure a permanent place for cheetahs on Earth.

Education and outreach are key in building awareness for the cheetah's plight and for developing sustainable practices that alleviate pressure on the species. Looking to the future, teaching conservation and instilling a high regard for the environment among young learners will help cheetahs secure a permanent place on Earth.

Creative approaches are also necessary. The future of the cheetah will require enhancing the livelihoods of the human communities that live alongside them. These include developing alternative income sources, such as eco-tourism, economic incentives for predator-friendly products. The concept is that farmers in cheetah range areas can be monitored and certified as practicing predator-friendly livestock management. In return for being good stewards to the cheetahs on their land, these farmers can be certified with the Cheetah Country eco-label and receive premium prices for their products [49, 62]. A program in development, its model

#### **Figure 4.**

*Satellite collars allow monitoring of cheetahs movements. Through understand the cheetah's use of their large home ranges (ave. 1500 km2 ) allows for management plans can be used with rural communities to plan for the cheetahs' survival in the future.*

**65**

**Author details**

Laurie Marker

provided the original work is properly cited.

Cheetah Conservation Fund, Otjiwarongo, Namibia

\*Address all correspondence to: director@cheetah.org

*Cheetahs Race for Survival: Ecology and Conservation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82255*

future generations can be attained [26].

their ecosystem.

**Acknowledgements**

with editing of this Chapter.

could serve to protect all of the world's predators, each of whom are threatened by conflict with humans and yet are vital to maintaining the health and biodiversity of

Despite all of the problems facing the cheetah, including genetic uniformity, competition with other large predators, destruction of habitat and conflict with humans, this iconic animal has survived for thousands of years. Cheetahs continue to fulfill their ecological role as the fastest mammalian apex predator on land. With integrated conservation programs across large landscapes, survival of cheetahs for

Thanks to the Cheetah Conservation Fund for their support of long-term research (www.cheetah.org), Susan Yannetti and Natalie Minor for their assistance

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

*Cheetahs Race for Survival: Ecology and Conservation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82255*

could serve to protect all of the world's predators, each of whom are threatened by conflict with humans and yet are vital to maintaining the health and biodiversity of their ecosystem.

Despite all of the problems facing the cheetah, including genetic uniformity, competition with other large predators, destruction of habitat and conflict with humans, this iconic animal has survived for thousands of years. Cheetahs continue to fulfill their ecological role as the fastest mammalian apex predator on land. With integrated conservation programs across large landscapes, survival of cheetahs for future generations can be attained [26].
