Editing Cheetah (section)

===Present distribution===
The cheetah occurs mostly in eastern and southern Africa; its presence in Asia is limited to the central deserts of Iran, though there have been unconfirmed reports of sightings in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan in the last few decades.<ref name=iucn /><ref name=marker4/> The global population of cheetahs was estimated at nearly 7,100 mature individuals in 2016. The Iranian population appears to have decreased from 60–100 individuals in 2007 to 43 in 2016, distributed in three subpopulations over less than {{cvt|150000|km2}} in Iran's central plateau.<ref name=durant2017>{{cite journal |first1=S. M. |last1=Durant |author2=Mitchell, N. |author3=Groom, R. |author4=Pettorelli, N. |author5=Ipavec, A. |author6=Jacobson, A. P. |author7=Woodroffe, R. |author8=Böhm, M. |author9=Hunter, L. T. B. |author10=Becker, M. S. |author11=Broekhuis, F. |author12=Bashir, S. |author13=Andresen, L. |author14=Aschenborn, O. |author15=Beddiaf, M. |author16=Belbachir, F. |author17=Belbachir-Bazi, A. |author18=Berbash, A. |author19=de Matos Machado, I. B. |author20=Breitenmoser, C. |author21=Chege, M. |author22=Cilliers, D. |author23=Davies-Mostert, H. |author24=Dickman, A. J. |author25=Ezekiel, F. |author26=Farhadinia, M. S. |author27=Funston, P. |author28=Henschel, P. |author29=Horganv, J. |author30=de Iongh, H. H. |author31=Jowkar, H. |author32=Klein, R. |author33=Lindsey, P. A. |author34=Marker, L. |author35=Marnewick, K. |author36=Melzheimer, J. |author37=Merkle, J. |author38=M'soka, J. |author39=Msuha, M. |author40=O'Neill, H. |author41=Parker, M. |author42=Purchase, G. |author43=Sahailou, S. |author44=Saidu, Y. |author45=Samna, A. |author46=Schmidt-Küntzel, A. |author47=Selebatso, E. |author48=Sogbohossou, E. A. |author49=Soultan, A. |author50=Stone, E. |author51=Van der Meer, E. |author52=Van Vuuren, R. |author53=Wykstra, M. |author54=Young-Overton, K. |title=The global decline of cheetah ''Acinonyx jubatus'' and what it means for conservation |year=2016 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1611122114 |pmid=28028225 |pmc=5255576 |journal=PNAS |volume=114 |issue=3 |pages=528–533 |name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="hunter2007">{{cite journal |last2=Jowkar |first2=H. |last3=Ziaie |first3=H. |last4=Schaller |first4=G. |last5=Balme |first5=G. |last6=Walzer |first6=C. |last7=Ostrowski |first7=S. |last8=Zahler |first8=P. |last9=Robert-Charrue |first9=N. |last10=Kashiri |first10=K. |last11=Christie |first11=S. |last1=Hunter |first1=L. |title=Conserving the Asiatic cheetah in Iran: launching the first radio-telemetry study |name-list-style=amp |journal=Cat News |year=2007 |volume=46 |pages=8–11 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263747864 |access-date=19 December 2019 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505152123/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263747864_Conserving_the_Asiatic_Cheetah_in_Iran_Launching_the_first_radio-telemetry_study |url-status=live}}</ref> The largest population of nearly 4,000 individuals is sparsely distributed over Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. Another population in Kenya and Tanzania comprises about 1,000 individuals. All other cheetahs occur in small, fragmented groups of less than 100 individuals each. Populations are thought to be declining.<ref name=durant2017/>