4. Park Proximity
This criterion has arguably to sides to the analysis. First, close populations would possibly provide gene flow between two reserves, thus strengthening the genetics of the two populations. On the other hand because "near things are more related than far things" a new park within a distance of 300 km would likely have the same species for that particular type of ecosystem. This is most likely to occur in the case of Cheetah habitat were there is little variation across a particular area of Savannah. On the other hand, there would likely be greater variation when comparing two different areas. Therefore it may be beneficial to create a reserve far from other reserve to capture other populations and possibly other species. Since both arguments are valid analysis of both situations were performed.

Species Specific Factors

When dealing with a specific species the objective is to provide the most suitable habitat. A high abundance of Cheetahs is correlated with large amounts of open rangeland, high density of prey species and absence of natural predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas.

5. Ecosystem
Open grassland and Savannah are the type of ecosystem that the cheetah can be found in. There fore all other vegetation type was excluded from the vegetation layer. Cheetahs prey mostly on small grazers such as impala and gazelle. These ecosystems provide both prey species and the open areas that are needed for the cheetah to be an effective hunter.

6. Elevation
Cheetahs are only found on relatively flat land. This excludes higher elevations. The elevation value that was suitable was set to 1500 m, this may seem high but the majority of Kenya is quite elevated.

7. Rainfall
Rainfall plays a key role in the suitability of a habitat. For every ecosystem there can be large ranges in rainfall. The rainfall factor was set so that all areas that would be on the dry end of the spectrum would be excluded from the habitat suitability. Since the prey species of the Cheetah are grazers areas with the greatest amount of vegetation, thus the largest density of prey species.

The combination of these factors provides the information needed to perform the analysis. However, not each factor is weighted equally. Once the layers have been developed into fuzzy layers they are then weighted based on potential impact on the conservation area. This is performed by using the MCEWLC (multi-criteria evaluation weighted linear combination). This provides two layers that were differentiated by the proximity to current parks (close and away). Further analysis of the selected area shape was calculated to narrow down the potential sites.

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