However larger cats still appear to hang on (just) – indeed the leopard may still survive in the Atlas mountains, although last seen in the late 1990s. A much smaller feline, the serval has been recently spotted in the Atlas for the first time<\/a>. Most of the other species keep to remote Saharan areas.<\/p>\n In the southern fringes of the region where the Saharan and the Sahel link to sub-saharan Africa, several cat species are present, even if in low numbers. Scat analysis by scientists working in southern Algeria identified continued presence of leopard. Several cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus hecki<\/em>) were shot during the early 1990s in southern Morocco and Cuzin (2003) suggested although\u00a0 a few individuals could survive (less than 20), they are most likely extinct. Recent camera trapping in southern Algeria (covering an area of 2,800 square kilometres) the first systematic survey across the central Sahara identified four individual cheetahs.<\/p>\n The first camera trap footage showing a cheetah in southern Algeria in . Credit: Farid Belbachir\/ZSL\/OPNA; courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society (2009)<\/p><\/div>\n Reading:<\/p>\n Busby et al (2009) Genetic analysis of scat reveals leopard (Panthera pardus<\/em>) and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) <\/em>in Algeria. Oryx, 43(3), 412\u2013415<\/p>\n Premi\u00e8re nationale: un serval photographi\u00e9 dans le moyen Atlas http:\/\/ecologie.ma\/premiere-nationale-un-serval-photographie-dans-le-moyen-atlas\/<\/a> (photo: Salim Meghni)<\/p>\n Wildlife Conservation Society. “Critically Endangered Cheetahs In Algeria Snapped With Camera Trap.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 February 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2009\/02\/090227082603.htm<\/a>>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.sciencedaily.com\/2009\/02\/090227082603-large.jpg\" "\\"Click")