The Problem of Low Genetic Diversity in Cheetahs

Problem: Low Genetic Diversity in Cheetahs caused by Inbreeding

The cheetah, a member of the cat family, is not an aggressive animal, and will choose to
run rather than fight if attacked. It has a weak jaw and small teeth, which helps increase
its speed, but means it cannot fight to protect its kill, or it‟s young. This inability, coupled
with dramatic climate changes that took place around 10,000 years ago, causing a
population or genetic bottleneck (sudden loss of vast numbers), caused all but one species
of cheetah to become extinct. The only species of cheetah left is the Acinonyx Jubatus¹
cheetah, which is now classified as an endangered species. This means that their numbers
are so small that the species is at risk of extinction, due to:

 “loss of habitat and prey to farming and development”¹;

 “prosecution by farmers as vermin or livestock-killing conflict animals”¹;“
 poaching or the illegal taking”¹ of cheetahs;
 competition with more aggressive predators, such as lions and hyenas, for prey.
(1.1a=2)

Fig.1 – World map showing

prehistoric cheetah migration¹

It is estimated that in 1900 the world

cheetah population stood at about 100,000 4, Fig.2 – Map showing current resident
but today, there are thought to be around cheetah range in Kenya5
12,000 left in the wild¹. These low numbers
have caused “in-situ cheetah populations to
become fragmented”³, meaning that where once, many wild cheetahs would have roamed
far (see Fig. 1) and bred with unrelated cheetahs from different areas of the world,
cheetah families became isolated (see Fig. 2) and close relatives were forced to breed,
which caused the species to become genetically inbred. Inbreeding is when closely elated
relatives breed, for example a brother and a sister, and it dramatically reduced the amount
of genetic diversity, hence reducing variation of the cheetah, which has vastly reduced
the gene pool.
In most species, related individuals would share about 80% of the same genes, whereas
cheetahs are found to share 99%. “Every cheetah alive today appears to be so inbred that
genetically they are as closely related as twins”¹. Genetic inbreeding in cheetahs has led
to;

 low survivorship, meaning many cheetahs dying;

 high infant morality, with only 5% of cubs born in-situ reaching reproductive age³;
 poor sperm quality, making it harder for fertilisation to occur;
 greater susceptibility to diseases and viruses, causing the species to be less adaptable
and “more vulnerable to ecological and environmental changes”¹, e.g. if a deadly
virus infected one cheetah, they are so genetically similar, that none of them may be
naturally immune, and the virus could spread causing the entire wild cheetah
population to become infected and die off, instead of just susceptible animals.

In essence, genetic inbreeding of in-situ cheetahs is decreasing their genetic diversity,

which is decreasing the number of cheetahs in the wild, and holding the constant threat of
their species being wiped out by a disease or virus.

(1.1b=2)

Solution: Ex-situ Selective Mating Program using a Stud Book

In addition to the surviving wild population, there are 1395 cheetahs in ex-situ captivity².
Zoo‟s play a crucial role in the survival of the cheetah, by providing a “safe haven, to
breed animals and increase the population of endangered species” 7. They act as a store
of cheetah, so that if anything goes wrong in the wild the species is preserved for future
generations, and does not become extinct.

To try and ensure that they increase genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding, zoos take
great care in making sure that only the most unrelated cheetahs breed. This is done by
selective breeding with the aid of a cheetah stud book; a single official worldwide list,
compiled by the international studbook keeper, Dr. Laurie Marker, detailing every
captive cheetahs ancestry, life history, any unsuccessful/successful breeding attempts,
offspring survival rate, significant medical notes, current location and mates. A suitable
mate is then selected “with a view to maintaining as much of wild genetic variability as
possible, with the aim of avoiding inbreeding” 7 and transferred between zoo‟s, without
any money ever changing hands. (1.2a=2)

The zoo‟s all work together as part of the

World Association of Zoo‟s and Aquariums
(WAZA) (See Fig. 3) sharing the captive
cheetahs amongst themselves, to ensure that
the best selective breeding pairs can be
chosen and introduced. Once the pair to be
bred has been selected, the male will be
transferred to the same zoo as the female, in
the hope that the female will accept the

Fig. 3 – Pie Chart showing captive

cheetah distribution²
male, and mate successfully. The studbook shows that by the end of 2006 there are 163
(76 males: 87 females) proven breeders alive in the captive population, with 36 (17
males: 23 females) having been reproductively active in 2006, which is only 19%
(1.2b=2) of the entire captive cheetah population2. As so few cheetahs are known to be
fertile or able to reproduce, this information is very useful to know when selecting a
mate, as there is more chance of successful fertilisation.

Evaluation: Stud Books

The cheetah stud
Captive cheetah population since 1999
book proves to be
very beneficial 1450

(1.3b=1) in providing
1400
the information
Number of cheetahs

needed to decide upon

1350
which pairs would be
the best to breed, and 1300
ensures that
inbreeding does not 1250
take place. Since stud
books were first 1200
introduced in 1999, 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

the captive cheetah Year

population has been Fig. 4 – Graph to show captive cheetah population

steadily increasing, proving increase since 1999 (data collected from source ²)
that they are beneficial to ex-
situ selective breeding, increasing the numbers of an endangered species (see Fig. 4), and
fulfilling the aim of captive breeding. (1.3a=2, discussion of graph)

However, the method of transporting the cheetahs to their mate has not proven so
successful, with only 16 of the 255 facilities that hold cheetah having reproductive
success². Although this is viewed as the method with the highest chance of a successful
pregnancy after fertilisation, the fertilisation is difficult, as:

 the female may not accept the male as a suitable mating partner, in which case she
won‟t mate
 71% of males have sperm abnormalities, and a sperm count 10 times lower than a
domestic cat¹, due to inbreeding, making it hard for the sperm to reach the egg
 cheetahs don‟t breed well in captivity

This proves that mating the cheetahs isn‟t an effective solution. (1.3b=1)

Implications:
Ethical – Keeping Cheetahs in Captivity.
Cheetahs are adapted for bursts of high speed and lead active lives by ranging over large
areas. In the wild, a cheetah's home range will cover several thousand hectares¹.
According to the size of their territory in the wild, “less than 30 cheetahs would fit in an
area of 1500km²”³. When you compare this with the minimum legal cheetah enclosure
size of only 80m² in Germany6, it is clear that nowhere near can this amount of space be
provided in the majority of zoos across the world. Keeping them in such small spaces is
unethical (2.1a=1) when you consider that if cheetahs do not get the proper space they
require, they will not get enough exercise to remain healthy6.

However, zoos do try to recreate the cheetahs natural environment as much as possible,
by creating elevated wooden platforms or ledges for them to sleep and rest on, reflecting
the „play trees‟ that they would sit up on in the wild. This cannot however, change the
fact that cheetahs are kept in captivity in countries, such as Britain, where there is such a
vastly different climate to the cheetahs natural habitat. They are forced to survive in
much lower temperatures, with “frost-free sleeping dens” 6 to try and minimize the effects
of such a different climate.

Despite these efforts, keeping them in such conditions is unethical, as the cheetah is not
adapted to live in this climate.

As the male and female cheetahs to be bred are carefully

and specifically selected from the stud book so as not to
inbreed, and the distribution of captive cheetahs across
the world is so great (see Fig. 3), this means that for
mating to take place, they must be transported across the
world. Air Namibia flies cheetahs in specially designed
transport crates to the selected re-location site in a 747
aeroplane6, and although there are legal requirements
ensuring that the crate is big enough with the ability to
Fig. 5 – Crate used to
prevent damage or escape, the cheetah is to be flown in a
Transport Cheetahs9
noisy aircraft and carried about, whilst kept in a small
and completely unknown environment, it is sure to frighten, panic and stress the animal,
which is again unethical. (2.1b=1)

Economic - Costs
There are many costs (2.1a=1) involved when keeping cheetahs in captivity:

 their diets must be heavily supplemented with specially formulated vitamins and
minerals that are expensive;
 the cost of transporting both the cheetah to be mated and the animals keeper and a vet
(to care for it during the journey and help it adjust to the new environment);
 the health care needed due to the high infant mortality and increased susceptibility to
diseases and viruses, caused by the inbreeding. 6

These unavoidable expenses necessary to carry out ex-situ selective breeding programs
are extremely high, and with no profit to be made. This means that zoos must depend on
money from their visitors, donations to cheetah conservation charities, and rely on money
donated by the government7, however many people feel that using the government money
for cheetah conservation is a drain on its resources, and believe that the money should go
to human dilemmas that need funding, such as feeding third world countries. (2.1b=1)

Impacts on humans:
Benefits
Cheetahs are very “charismatic”³ and beautiful cats, perfectly adapted for speed, therefore
are very beneficial for humans to view for their aesthetic qualities. This gives the zoos an
opportunity to “increase public understanding of animals and their welfare and of the
issues involved in their conservation” 7, which increases awareness, inspires interest in
the cheetah, and encourages people to visit places such as Namibia, where the majority of
the world‟s cheetah population live. This in turn, provides money to aid in-situ
conservation. Also the increase in ecotourism to the Namibian farmlands to see cheetahs
in their natural habitat bring in lots of money which is an “important part of the economy
and a supplement to agricultural income for many Namibians” ¹, making them more
willing to stop killing them. This safe habitat should then allow the in-situ cheetah
population to increase. (2.2a=2)

Risks
There are always risks towards humans when handling large, carnivorous animals such as
the cheetah, however this risk is increased during transportation when the cheetah is
stressed, scared, and possibly being sedated. Cheetahs are “very susceptible to stress”10,
and if a cheetah did manage to escape its transportation crate in a situation such as on a
plane, whilst stressed, the keeper, pilot and anyone else on the plane could be in danger.
Although the crates are designed to prevent escape, there are cheetahs known to have
escaped; on the 2nd December 2008 two agitated cubs were being transported near
Stellenbosch, and managed to “break the pop rivets, pushed the restraining bars out of the
way and jump out”9 (3.2b=2) of the truck. Luckily no harm was done to anyone as they
were only cubs, but if this had been an adult cheetah, the story could have been very
different.

Another risk could be to the Namibian farmers‟ livestock. 95% of the Namibian cheetah
population live on the land of 1,000 farmers¹. Only when game numbers drop do the
cheetahs hunt domestic livestock as the only food source available. However, if their
numbers began to rapidly increase, this would mean that there would not be enough game
for all the cheetahs to hunt, and they may be forced to hunt the livestock, in which case
they may pose a threat to the farmers livestock, family, or income, and they may resort to
killing them¹. (2.2b=2)

Alternative Solutions:
Due to the male cheetahs “high frequency (71%) of sperm abnormalities … and a sperm
count 10 times lower than a domestic cat”¹ conceiving naturally is rare, with only 16 of
the 255 facilities that hold cheetah having reproductive success². Therefore, other
methods can be used to lead to pregnancy:

Artificial Insemination (AI)

An alternative solution to mating the cheetahs is to artificially inseminate (AI) the male‟s
sperm into the female. This is a non-surgical procedure, which involves collecting sperm
from the selected male cheetah, cryopreserving (freezing) it, transporting the semen
sample to the female cheetah, and placed in the reproductive tract of the female, where
fertilisation can then take place11. (3.1d=1, many other examples)
This method means the sperm have
less distance to swim before
reaching the eggs, therefore a
higher chance of fertilisation. This
method carries a 22% success rate,
and has been used to impregnate
many cheetahs8. Scientists are
working on ways to improve the
survivability of sperm after thaw,
which should help to increase the
success rate.

Although the success rate is still

not that high, it is still higher than
the success rate of mating, and also
means fertilisation can happen
without having to transport the
cheetah, hence dramatically Fig. 6 - Cheetah litter born via artificial
reducing costs, which is beneficial insemination (23/11/2004) using the sperm of
economically, and means that the a wild cheetah4
cheetah does not have to become
stressed and scared in travelling, which is beneficial ethically.

AI also allows semen to be taken from wild male cheetahs and used in the captive
breeding program, to introduce valuable wild genes back into the captive population.
Namibia has the largest population of cheetahs, so the genes represented in this
population are important to captive cheetah survival worldwide. In 2004 two cheetah
litters were successfully born to captive mothers using the sperm of wild Namibian
cheetahs (see Fig. 6). 4 (2.3a=2)

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

A more successful alternative to AI is in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), with a 45% success
rate.

The IVF process:

1. A small incision is made in the female cheetah‟s ovary, which causes liquid
containing the female‟s eggs (oocytes) to be drained off. The oocytes are then
isolated.
2. A sperm specimen is taken from the male cheetah, cleaned, deprived of liquid and
cryopreserved in preparation for IVF. It can then be transported to the location of the
female.
3. The sperm and oocytes are combined in a glass dish, to allow fertilisation to take
place. The fertilized egg is left in laboratory for several days to begin to divide.
4. The embryo is then transferred into the female cheetah‟s uterus, using a long syringe.
The embryo should implant on the uterus wall, and from then on, normal pregnancy
takes place. 11
The IVF process does involve the cheetahs being sedated and anesthetised, which some
may think unethical, as it runs a greater risk of the cheetah dying. They do not get a
choice like when mating, and the whole process may distress them. It is also an expensive
process, however with more than double the success rate of mating and AI, money is
likely to be saved. Another benefit to the IVF process, is that more than one embryo can
be implanted at a time, which means giving birth to a litter of cubs, hence reflecting
nature and increasing the population by more. Like AI, IVF also allows sperm to be taken
from wild cheetahs and introduced into the captive population.

An important benefit of using IVF as a solution to the low genetic diversity, is that
oocytes can be harvested from genetically valuable cheetahs who are to old to have a
pregnancy (as reproduction ability declines after 8 years old1), fertilized, and implanted
into a surrogate younger cheetah to give a higher chance of successful pregnancy, whilst
keeping valuable genes in the gene pool.11 (2.3b=2)

Solution: Using AI and IVF to Increase Genetic Diversity In-Situ

Cheetahs raised in captivity are never going to be able to be re-introduced into the wild,
as they have not learnt to hunt and survive3, and due to fragmented populations in-situ
caused by low numbers, the wild cheetahs are not able to find an unrelated mate, which
leads to further inbreeding.

To solve this, AI and IVF should be used to impregnate wild Namibian females living on
the farmland, either using captive or wild semen samples, or as a surrogate mother. Then
when they give birth, they shall teach their cubs how to hunt and survive in the wild, so
the cubs grow up as wild cheetahs. The cheetah cubs will be safer as their home is
farmland which has fewer competitors, and their numbers will begin to increase again,
which will in turn start to de-fragment the population, with the male cheetahs from one
litter able to search out females from different litters. This will then mean that the cheetah
population becomes self-sustaining and stabilises, and with less inbreeding happening,
and a larger gene pool, genetic diversity will begin to increase. (further discussion to
enhance 2.3)

Bibliography

1. Name: Cheetah Conservation Fund

Url: http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=41
Date accessed: 01/02/2009 (3.2a=2)
Evaluation – I believe that the Cheetah Conservation Fund website is a very reliable
source, (3.3a=1) as its purpose is to educate and inform about the cheetahs‟ situation. It
is the most well know cheetah charity, which has been involved in many experiments,
data collection, and research into cheetahs, therefore the information given on the website
is guaranteed to be valid and reliable. Further proof of the validity and reliability of this
source, is the confirmation of information from another source; the Cheetah Conservation
Fund stated that “about 10,000 years ago - because of climate changes – all but one
species of the cheetah, jubatus, became extinct”, and
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/1999/08/02/40791.htm?site=science/greatmoments
inscience& topic=latest confirms that “cheetahs of at least four different sub-species
once roamed, but today the cheetah exists as only one sub-species…due to a "natural"
disaster probably about 10,000 years ago”. (3.3b=1) This proves that the source is
giving reliable and valid information.

2. Author: Dr. Laurie Marker

Title: International Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) Studbook 2006
Publisher: Cheetah Conservation Fund
Pages: 6-11

3. Speaker: Nathalie Peltorelli, Institute of Zoology (non web source)

Evaluation – Nathalie Peltorelli is a scientist who works in cheetah conservation. I
believe this would make her a very reliable source, (3.3a=1) as cheetah conservation is
her specialist field of knowledge, in which she has lots of experience. Her intention was
to inform and educate us as to the cheetah‟s current situation, therefore is not biased. She
stated that “cheetahs have a high infant morality, with only 5% of wild born cubs
reaching maturity”, which implies that 95% don‟t reach maturity, and is reflected by data
from www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=44 confirming that “the wild cheetah
infant morality rate is 95%”. (3.3b=1) This proves her as a valid and reliable source of
information.

4. Name: The Big Cats

Url: www.thebigcats.com/cheetah/cheetah_dist.htm
Date accessed: 08/02/2009

5. Name: The Cheetah Conservation Compendium

Url: http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/04_country-information/Eastern-Africa/kenia.htm
Date accessed: 08/02/2009

6. Name: World Association of Zoos and Aquariums WAZA

Url: http://www.waza.org/virtualzoo/factsheet.php?id=112-007-003-001&view=Cats
Date: 01/02/2009

7. Speaker: Rosie Davison, Education Officer for ZSL (3.1b=1) (non web source)

8. Author: Guy Gugliotta

Journal: Smithsonian magazine
Title: Breeding Cheetahs
Publisher: Cheetah Conservation Fund
9. Name: The Portfolio Travel Blog
Blog entry: “Spier Cheetahs Escape” – 03/12/2008
Url: http://travelblog.portfoliocollection.com/Blog/Spier-Cheetahs-Escape
Date accessed: 08/02/2008

10. Author: Dr. Christine Huber, Dr. Christian Walzer, Dr. Leopold Slotta-Bachmayr
Journal: Zoo and Wildlife Medicine
Title: Evaluation of Long-Term Sedation in Cheetah
Publisher: American Association of Zoo Veterinarians

11. Name: Sanatorium Helios

Url: http://www.sanatoriumhelios.eu/ivf/ivf-procedure/
Date acessed: 11/02/2009

(3.1a=1, 3.1c=1)

(4.1=2, 4.2=2)

Word Count
2,764 words (no word count penalty, QCA)