NEWSLINK: Cheetah study gets lions off the hook

Cheetahs have a hard life on the Serengeti plains. Less than 5% of cubs will survive into adolescence and a previous study puts predation by lions as one of the biggest threats to cheetah cubs. A new study on cheetah cubs in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park suggests that the low survival rates of the Serengeti may not be the norm of cubs and lions may not be the big threat that they are currently considered to be.

The high levels of predation by lions of cheetah cubs in the Serengeti makes some conservationists believe that the two big cats would have difficulty surviving together within conservation areas. The Serengeti study followed 125 cheetah cubs from den to adolescence and only 4.8% survived. This low-level of survival has been considered in conservation policies and strategy with some concluding that the two can not successfully co-exist in defined protected areas.

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NEWSLINK: Cheetah holds tourists hostage

Cheetah holds Kenyan safari hostage for 45 minutes New York Daily News A cheetah held tourists hostage for 45 minutes during a Kenyan safari. The big cat leaped atop the tour group's Jeep and stayed put as the passenger recorded video of the encounter. The cheetah rested on the vehicle as it surveyed the surrounding area ... See all stories on this topic »

New York Daily

NEWSLINK: Reintroducing the cheetah to India

African big cat Cheetah to be reintroduced in India
Hindustan Times
The efforts are on to reintroduce African big cat at Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, told Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India (WII). "Ministry of Environment. and Forests (MoEF) is in process of signing Memorandum of ...

NEWSLINK: North African cheetahs born at Whipsnade Zoo

A North African cheetah which produced Britain's first litter in 2010 has given birth again at Whipsnade Zoo.

Dubai's seven cubs, born 12 weeks ago, will be making their first appearance at the Bedfordshire zoo on Thursday.

The zoo said it believed Dubai's new cubs were the third UK litter, after a second at Chester Zoo last summer.

A spokeswoman said it was good for the species, adding: "It's very important the breeding continues as there's less than 250 left in the wild."

The cubs have yet to be named.

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NEWSLINK: Daring ... Cameron Diaz frolics with a cheetah in new film

Daring ... Cameron Diaz frolics with a cheetah in new film The Sun Her character in upcoming film The Counselor, co-starring Brad Pitt, is dotty about the big cats and owns one as a pet. She even lets the beast roam free around the grounds of her home — which caused some major production headaches during shooting at ... Is this really the ethical thing to do at a time when activists on both sides of the Atlantic are fighting against big cats being kept as pets?