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EPIB Trail
Volume 5, Issue 5
thalmitis (inflammation of the internal coats of the eyes), and phthisis bulbi (a shrunken non-functional eye). Strangely enough, big cat blindness is not new to this country. In 1997, four cheetahs underwent ocular examinations and were presumed to be blind; the two young cheetahs had mature cataracts while the two adults were found to have severe signs of ocular trauma, including lid and cornea scar tracts, and mature cataracts. Following appropriate care and treatment, all four of them underwent successful cataract extraction. But these findings prompted an investigation into the cause of the cataracts in the adult wild captured cheetahs that is still continuing today. Blindness in Namibian cheetahs hasn’t reached epidemic proportions until now.
By Chloe’ Lewis
After the first 182 wild cheetah eyes were Big cats are among the most beautiful and examined, it was shown beyond a doubt that there is a high fierce predators on earth. Found all over the world, these incidence of ocular trauma in the Namibian cheetahs. The powerful felines possess unparalleled strength and master cause of this epidemic is the big question. Why is it that an hunting skills—they are the true royalty of the wild. overwhelming number of cheetahs in the Namibian populaAmong these dominant hunters, the cheetah takes the cake tion have suffered severe eye trauma to the point of eventuas being the fastest of all the big cats. Cheetahs—the most al blindness? Researchers looked at the issue from many unique and specialized of the big cats—are aerodynamical- angles. A number of theories have been presented, and only ly built for speed, with their linear bodies and long legs one has been widely accepted—a theory concerning shiftenabling them to reach up to seventy miles per hour. Their ing land use in Namibia. large eyes are positioned for maximum binocular potential, allowing the cheetah to easily lock onto the target and comThe unique thing about Namibian cheetahs mence the chase. However, in the heartlands of Africa, the is that unlike most other wild African cheetahs, they live fastest land mammal on earth has gone blind. and are forced to thrive in bush encroached areas—a habitat that does not meet their specific needs. Typically, cheeEarly in 2013, researchers at the Africat tahs throughout Africa and Asia thrive in vast open areas Foundation in the South African country of Namibia rethat are essential for tracking and hunting prey across long leased critical information regarding a devastating blow to distances. However, this type of habitat has been continuNamibia’s cheetah population. These cheetahs can no ously declining in Namibia as grassy lands are increasingly longer kill. They are going blind. Researchers at Africat began to notice that some cheetahs are developing a myste- converted to woody vegetation in a process known as bush encroachment. . Researchers have determined that the traurious white haze that is spreading across their cornea and ultimately rendering them completely blind. This mysteri- ma to the Namibian cheetahs has been the result of thorn or foliage damage to sensitive eye components as a result of ous problem has now become an epidemic, sweeping the cheetahs hunting in bush encroached habitat. across the Namibian cheetah population. Now blind, the cheetahs of Namibia are unable to hunt, causing a devastating domino effect. No vision, no hunt. No hunt, no food. No food, no survival and reproduction. Extinction.
While undergoing their annual health screening at Africat, the cheetahs exhibited a high incidence of ocular trauma ranging from mild scarring of the lids and/or cornea, to mature cataracts, to severe endophReturn to Index
