Research overview: subspecies and regional genetics of the cheetah

Although cheetahs are genetically depleted overall, they are not uniform across their range, and several subspecies are recognized, including the southern and eastern African cheetahs, the northwest African or Saharan cheetah, and the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah of Iran. This overview surveys the molecular evidence distinguishing these populations, the deep divergence of the Asiatic cheetah from African populations, and the conservation prioritization that follows. It discusses how even a low-diversity species retains meaningful structure that must guide breeding and translocation, the precarious status of the few remaining Asiatic cheetahs, and how regional genetics complements the species-wide story of bottlenecks.