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Cheetah expert, Laurie Marker on her life's work to save the species from extinction

Dr. Laurie Marker has devoted her life to saving the cheetah from extinction... no easy feat. With its highly specialized body type, diet and skill set, it's almost like nature indulged itself with a sports car. We rebroadcast our conversation with Dr. Marker about what the future holds for this exotic species....
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The Current24:00Laurie Marker on her life's work to save cheetahs from extinction - August 25, 2015
Dr. Laurie Marker has devoted her life to saving the cheetah from extinction... no easy feat. With its highly specialized body type, diet and skill set, it's almost like nature indulged itself with a sports car. We rebroadcast our conversation with Dr. Marker about what the future holds for this exotic species.


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Why the world's speediest land animal faces the possibility of a speedy exit ...


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Laurie Marker, the Jane Goodall of Cheetahs

One of nature's most specialized creatures, cheetahs can be hard to keep track of, since they've been clocked at speeds of more than 115 kilometres per hour. But with only about 10,000 cheetahs left in the wild, they're now harder to spot than ever.

Without any intervention the cheetah will be extinct within a couple of decadesLaurie Marker, Cheetah Foundation Fund

Once roaming over a vast swath of land stretching from South Africa to Iran to India, they've now completely vanished from most of their historic range. Although there is a healthy population living on a reserve in Namibia.

Laurie Marker is the founder and director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Since 1990 she's researched the big cats and tried to find innovative ways to sustain the species. This interview originally aired last October.


What if we lost the cheetah? - Ted Talk by Laurie Marker



Helping Farmers, Helping Cheetahs - (video of the Anatolia guard dogs)


To read some of the listener feedback from the top of this segment on Urban Wildlife vs. City Dwellers from our Friday program, click here

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This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry

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