A cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) at the Toronto Zoo keeps and eye on you as it patrols its enclosure. It's fluid stride and piercing stare is haunting, as though it were some apparition.

Cheetahs may be fast, but they can't cheat man. It's status in Africa is classified as vulnerable, but due to a recent population bottleneck, cheetahs are so genetically similar that inbreeding is a very real risk. Cheetahs are so related that a skin graft from one cheetah can be given to another without rejection. Low genetic variation is resulting in high infant mortality, poor reproduction, and a number of physical deformities. Combined with threats such as habitat loss, prey depletion and conflict with livestock owners, the cheetah is very much at risk of serious population declines.