Cheetahs

Perched on the northeastern coast of Africa, the tiny country of Djibouti is a place of extremes. Rugged mountains soar to the north, while near the coastline a saline lake sinks more than 500 feet below sea level. Desert claims 90 percent of the country’s arid landscape, while the majority of residents live clustered in dense urban areas around the capital city.

What Djibouti doesn’t have, anymore, are wild cheetahs. Sightings of the cats haven’t been confirmed for more than three decades — until recently. Wildlife professor Mark Chynoweth, from the Quinney College of Natural Resources, was a leader of a survey team that captured the first images of a cheetah in the country since 1997.

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