Cheetah Sitting Watching –  He knew I was there!  Watching me photographing him.  Unconcerned by my presence he turned and looked at me and ‘Meowed’.  Just to let me know he knew he was the star!

A Limited Edition Print (25) fine art photograph by Elizabeth McNamee.

Cheetahs are the only big cats that can’t roar.  They produce a variety of sounds including growls, purrs that generally show contentment, chirps (between a mother and her cubs).  Cheetahs meow like a house cat and also have an “explosive yelp” that can be heard by humans from 2 km away.

Cheetahs are an endangered species tethering on the edge of extinction and are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red list. During the last Ice Age the world’s population of cheetahs plummeted to just a handful of individuals. This event caused an extreme reduction of the cheetah’s genetic diversity leaving only the Asian and African species of cheetahs. Since then, stress from climate change, habitat loss and human activities have put pressure on the remaining two species. Today, one cheetah species is found in eastern, central, and south western Africa, while a tiny population of the other species, the Asiatic Cheetah, is found in Iran. Scientists estimate that less than 7000 African Cheetahs are living in the wild, and there may be less than 50 Asian Cheetahs left in the world.

Will they survive and outrun this new wave of threats to their survival? Encroachment by humans for industrial and agricultural expansion has greatly affected their habitat.  Cheetahs are the world’s fastest land mammal and can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles an hour in only three seconds, striking prey in the blink of an eye.  It is hoped they can outrun their extinction once again.

These Fine Art Giclee Prints are printed using archival pigment inks and made using 100% cotton, museum grade, archival quality 330gms paper with an ultra-smooth finish which is acid, lignin and chloride free with ph buffering for superb durability and print stability.  These prints are supplied unframed and without a mat.