4 Comments so far

1. cattbarf Had this To Say

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   Zoologists believe that if the number of animals becomes too low, mating will increase the influence of recessive genes, which generally lead to less robust animals. This becomes a “vicious cycle” leading to
   the inability to maintain a population. In humans, this is why marriage to persons as close a first cousins is frowned on, and in some states, illegal.

2. The Cheshire Had this To Say

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   Cheetahs are in trouble for many reasons, genetic diversity is really not one of them. Not sure where you heard that.

   The problems are loss of habitat, loss of prey, predation of cubs and from larger predators (lion, leopard), poaching and the killing of cheetahs by ranchers (cheetah go after livestock).

   Here:
   http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/cheetah.php
   http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/cheetah.html

3. Dinoguy Had this To Say

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   No variation means no adaptations. This combined with human activity makes cheetahs close to extinctions.

4. Jeff Sadler Had this To Say

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   All modern cheetahs are descended from just a handful of cheetahs. Literally perhaps as few as seven individuals. This is because at one time right after the last ice ages, something caused all the near extinction of the cheetah. The ones remaining are terribly inbred. But more importantly is the fact that there is little genetic difference between one cheetah and another. Therefore if a disease affects one cheetah, it can rapidly spread across the population and will likely affect all cheetahs.

   The cape wild hunting dogs are suffering a similar fate. In their case Parvo and Canine distemper is wiping them out. Aided by the dog’s highly social structure.