International Cheetah Day from National Day Calendar and Nat Geo Wild

While I've been able to tackle both the Omicron variant and the Supreme Court, I find myself unable to blog about the shooting at Oxford High School and its ongoing fallout. It's too fast moving and too close to home, literally. I might get to it later, but then again, I didn't blog about the Larry Nassar scandal until 2019.* It may be a while.

Consequently, I'm falling back on holidays about animals, biodiversity, and sustainability for today's post. December 4th has two of them, International Cheetah Day and Wildlife Conservation Day. Since I already celebrate World Wildlife Day and Endangered Species Day, I'm focusing on the planet's fastest land animal today. Take it away, National Day Calendar!

Every year on December 4th, International Cheetah Day encourages people worldwide to help this animal win the race against extinction.

The cheetah is well-known as the fastest animal on earth. This amazing animal can reach a top speed of 70 mph in just three seconds! At top speed, their stride spans 21 feet. The cheetah is a big, slender cat with long legs. Its short fur is yellowish-tan and covered in thousands of black spots. Most cheetahs have between 2,000 and 3,000 spots, which helps to camouflage themselves. The animal’s name comes from the Hindi word, “chita,” which means “spotted one.” These big cats weigh anywhere from 46 to 158 pounds.
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Cheetahs live on the open grasslands of Sub-Sahara[n] Africa. They are carnivores that feast mainly on small antelopes and wildebeest calves. They sometimes eat smaller animals, such as rabbits and birds. Female cheetahs live by themselves. Male cheetahs, on the other hand, live with a small group of brothers called coalitions.

Cheetahs are the most endangered big cat in Africa. As of 2020, scientists believe less than 8,000 cheetahs are living in the wild. This is a 50 percent decline in the last four decades. In the past, cheetahs were hunted for their fur. Today, one of their biggest threats is the loss of habitat due to increased human settlements and road construction. Some cheetahs are not able to reproduce, which threatens their survival even more.
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American zoologist Dr. Laurie Marker founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund in 1991. In 2010, she designated December 4th as International Cheetah Day. She chose December 4th as it was the birthday of a cheetah named Khayam. Dr. Marker trained this cheetah for her first research project on teaching captive-born cheetahs to hunt. When she reintroduced Khayam to the wild, she realized how endangered the cheetahs were becoming.

Nat Geo Wild shows and tells more in It is International Cheetah Day from 2017.

Learn about the world's fastest land mammal and how their vulnerable status needs more protection.

On the one hand, the plight of the cheetah comes through. On the other, so does their appeal. That's something worth celebrating.

Speaking of things worth celebrating, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature as I work my way through my "I can't be all DOOM all the time" mood.

*The two cases share a connection beyond being about terrible things happening to teens in Michigan. The same attorney is representing the parents as represented Nassar. Even the worst offenders deserve good legal representation, just to make sure the system works fairly and the prosecution does its job.