Deserts cover about one-fifth of the Earth’s land mass, still they are the least understood biomes. Receiving an average of less than 4 inches of rain per year, deserts have poor productivity and supports low abundances of wildlife (cite). Thus, they are rarely viewed as conservation priority areas. However, the deserts are home to unique species that can adapt to the harsh and highly variable environments. Due to the lack of attention, the Sahara, world’s largest tropical desert, has suffered a catastrophic decline in fauna. Four of fourteen large vertebrates that have lived in the region are now extinct in the wild, including the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah). The addax (Addax nasomaculatus), dama gazelle (Nanger dama) and Sahan cheetah …show more content…
Total of 32 photographs were obtained in 2008 and 2010. The data yielded captures of six adult cheetahs (5 males and 1 unidentified sex) and one sub-adult (unidentified sex). Of the 32 captured photo, 30 were captured after sunset and before sunrise (cite). The result showed that the behavior and ecology of the Saharan cheetah is severely constrained by the harsh desert environment. It also supported Farid Belbachir and his team predictions that Saharan cheetah are nocturnal, potentially wide-ranging, and occur at very low densities. With the rapidly increasing of global population around the world, humans are invading more and more on the territory of various wildlife species, including the Saharan cheetah. As the habitat get smaller, the cheetahs are forced to travel longer distances to find food. In fact, the study reported that there are only two animals per 3861 square miles, although their personal ranges stretch to about 600 miles. Another reason that will lead to Saharan cheetahs’ is the lack of prey. Two antelope species, including addax (Addax nasomaculatus) and dama gazelle (Nanger dama) have already been extirpated from the Ahaggar region. It is likely that these antelope species may have been an important food