Within the protected areas, Paule Gros interviewed tourists, park employees, tour guides and biologists. Outside protected zones, in farmlands and range lands, she questioned farmers and cattle herders. Paule Gros conducted interviews in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Namibia, and used this wealth of information from local humans to assess the cheetah's current state of play in each country. While in Kenya, the species might just be holding its own, at between 1200 - 3350 animals, in other regions, numbers have declined, although estimate from Namibia are similar to those from Kenya. The accuracy of the interview method was a surprise, but it wouldn't work for all species.
Cheetahs are rare, charismatic animals, famous for being one of the fastest creatures on land.
People notice them, and remember them. Furthermore, cheetahs hunt by day, out in the open. We will always need long-term studies of individuals in order to manage animal populations properly. But in this day of disappearing wildlife, biologists must also employ fast, but accurate, ways of estimating numbers. In some cases, like that of the African cheetah, the humans who share the region with the animals could prove to be a gold mine of information.