Saharan cheetah, a species of cheetah that survives in the African desert despite arid conditions and little water, was finally photographed after a year-long quest to snap a photo of the cat. See the photos here.
The photographs were taken during a night vision camera trap by scientists with the Saharan Conservation Fund’s Saharan Carnivore Project.
According to the BBC, the number of Saharan cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) that roam the desert in the African country of Niger is in the single digits. The small number of Saharan cheetahs in the wild, as well as the cheetahs’ bashfulness, have contributed to the species’ mysteriousness.
“The cheetahs of Termit Massif [in Niger] are extremely shy, rarely revealing themselves to researchers and few visitors go there,” Thomas Rabeil with the Saharan Conservation Fund (SCF) told the BBC.
The black-and-white photos showed a “ghostly cat [with a] pale coat and emaciated appearance [which] distinguish it from other cheetahs,” according to LiveScience.com. The cheetahs also have different spot patterns and different colors from more common cheetahs, the BBC reported.
The photographs were taken during a night vision camera trap by scientists with the Saharan Conservation Fund’s Saharan Carnivore Project.
According to the BBC, the number of Saharan cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) that roam the desert in the African country of Niger is in the single digits. The small number of Saharan cheetahs in the wild, as well as the cheetahs’ bashfulness, have contributed to the species’ mysteriousness.
“The cheetahs of Termit Massif [in Niger] are extremely shy, rarely revealing themselves to researchers and few visitors go there,” Thomas Rabeil with the Saharan Conservation Fund (SCF) told the BBC.
The black-and-white photos showed a “ghostly cat [with a] pale coat and emaciated appearance [which] distinguish it from other cheetahs,” according to LiveScience.com. The cheetahs also have different spot patterns and different colors from more common cheetahs, the BBC reported.
