This inquisitive-looking individual is one of four endangered Saharan cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) snapped by camera traps in Algeria.

Researchers from the Zoological Society of London, the Office du Parc National de l’Ahaggar and the Université de Béjaïa set up camera traps over 2,800 square km of the Sahara to identify these animals.

The current ‘red list’ of threatened animals lists these cheetahs as ‘critically endangered’, with a total population of fewer than 250 adults and no subpopulation larger than 50 adults. The red list adds that up-to-date estimates for population abundances in Ahaggar are needed, which these photos take us someway towards.

“This is an incredibly rare and elusive subspecies of cheetah and current population estimates … are based on guesswork,” says Farid Belbachir, who is running the survey (press release). “This study is helping us to turn a corner in our understanding, providing us with information about population numbers, movement and ecology.”

Coverage

Rare cheetah caught on camera trap in Sahara – Daily Telegraph

Rare cheetah captured on camera – BBC

Headline watch

Spotted: rare pictures of desert cheetah – Times

Image: © Farid Belbachir/ZSL/OPNA