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A12 SCIENCE
Wednesday 9 december 2020
Avoiding cheetah hangouts helps ranchers protect herds

By CHRISTINA LARSON "They go back generations
AP Science Writer and generations," he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — On Using GPS tracking data
the dusty savannahs of that recorded locations
Namibia, one of the last every 15 minutes, the re-
strongholds of cheetah searchers calculated that
populations on Earth, con- cheetah activity around
flicts between cattle ranch- these hubs is about 20 times
ers and big cats threaten higher than elsewhere.
the survival of the embat- "This is an extraordinary
tled carnivores. data set demanding a
But new research on how huge amount of work and
cheetahs use the land- the authors have used
scape has allowed some state-of-the-art statistical
ranchers to reduce the methods to analyze the
number of calves killed an- data thoroughly," said Tim
nually by 86%, largely by Caro, a biologist at the Uni-
avoiding popular cheetah versity of California, Davis,
hangouts. who was not involved in
Cheetahs are the fastest the study.
land mammal, capable of The hub areas are the
speeds exceeding 60 miles most dangerous for calves,
per hour (97 kilometers per This 2019 photo provided by the Leibniz-IZW Cheetah Research Project shows a cheetah in central which are vulnerable to
hour). But they also hold Namibia. cheetahs during the first six
another distinction: the rar- Associated Press months of their lives.
est big cat in Africa, with In 2008, researchers con-
fewer than 7,000 alive in males team up to hunt and Other cheetahs come to ceedings of the National vinced the first rancher to
the wild. defend territories, but other these areas to sniff around Academy of Sciences. "It's move herds to avoid chee-
By following movements males and all females lead and learn who's passed by the main address for all the tah hubs during calving
of 106 GPS-collared chee- largely solitary lives. recently, and who may be boys and girls looking for season. The team initially
tahs from 2007 to 2018, re- Even a loose-knit society ready to mate or fight. partners to go. It's a com- wasn't certain whether the
searchers from Germany needs a way and place to "You can think of these munication hub." big cats would follow the
and Slovenia gleaned new communicate. Within core landmarks as the most pop- And these hubs are en- herds, or simply prey more
insights into cheetah so- areas of their territories, ular bar in town," said Joerg during. Through interviews on wildlife such as graz-
cial structure, which they some male cheetahs leave Melzheimer, an ecologist at with ranchers, Melzheimer ing oryx in and around the
shared with ranchers. scent marks by urinating or the Leibniz Institute for Zoo learned that some trees hubs. The latter happened.
Unlike most African felines, defecating in prominent lo- and Wildlife Research, and marked by cheetahs in his As word got out, oth-
cheetahs hunt by day, cov- cations, typically on trees, co-author of a study pub- study were also used by er ranchers joined the
ering vast distances. Some termite mounds or rocks. lished Monday in the Pro- cheetahs 80 years ago. experiment.q

Water quality, flooding mean low grade for major watershed

2020 C- grade is only a be part of the solution," Lutz said the challenges faced
slight improvement on the said in a news release. along the rivers demand
D+ grade the group issued The report characterized urgent action, including
for the watershed in its first water quality in the sys- "smart investments in scien-
report, in 2015. tem as "very poor" due to tific information to improve
The watershed, which en- increasing sediments and decision-making and co-
compasses two-fifths of nutrients. It gave a D grade ordinated on-the-ground
the continental U.S. and 31 for water quality, flood implementation."
states, remains threatened control and risk reduction. Lutz said the goal of the re-
by increasingly frequent Other factors assessed in- port card is to provide deci-
and extreme flooding as clude ecosystem health, sion makers and others with
well as aging infrastructure the economy and recre- information to develop a
and pollution, the report ation. collaborative approach to
said. To protect the water sys- managing the watershed.

In this June 5, 2019, file photo, Mississippi River flows over the Kimberly Lutz, the initiative's tem, the initiative called for She said the group plans
breached Pin Oak levee flooding homes and buildings in Win- executive director, said the $2 billion in annual funding to release a new report ev-
field, Mo., during historic flooding on the river. watershed faces "pressing through government and ery five years to help track
Associated Press challenges." private sources to address progress and shortfalls.
"As the United States looks issues such as river naviga- The report card was devel-
By JIM SALTER lions of dollars are required to recover and rebuild our tion, flood management oped jointly with the Univer-
Associated Press to address flooding and economy amid the coro- and the ecosystem. It also sity of Maryland Center for
O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A water quality concerns in navirus pandemic, the urged greater collabora- Environmental Science. The
group developed to help the nation's largest rivers. health and resilience of this tion among river interests initiative, founded in 2010,
improve management of America's Watershed Initia- critical natural resource — and improvements in infor- comprises representatives
the Mississippi River Water- tive on Tuesday released through investments in in- mation gathering and pub- from business and the pub-
shed has issued it a disap- its 2020 report for the Mis- frastructure, research, edu- lic education. lic sector with expertise in
pointing report card, and sissippi River and its more cation and flood and wa- Report Card Committee river management and
says urgent action and bil- than 250 tributaries. The ter management — must Chairman Larry Weber conservation issues.q