The Cheetah
These spectacularly unique fleet footed animals are surely built for speed with their slender bodies, long lanky legs, a long flat shaped muscular tail that is used for balance and steering and a deep chest that contains large lungs. Their fur is short and coarse, tan coloured and covered in solid black spots that help as camouflage. Though usually confused with the leopard the cheetah can be easily recognised by the black tear shaped streaks under its eyes which is believed to help to reflect the sun when hunting.
- Interesting Aspects -
Aspect One
Cheetahs are the fastest mammals on land, they can run up to 113 km per hour and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km per hour in 3 seconds which is faster than any sports car. Their speed is however over short sprints, they quickly get tired and can only keep their extreme top speed for a few minutes before they are too tired to continue.
Aspect Two
Though cheetahs are big cats they are incredibly susceptible to other predators and often get killed by lions, leopards and hyenas. Their light body weight and blunt claws are not suitable for protecting themselves or their prey and often give up their catch to avoid a fight when approached by a larger and more aggressive animal in the wild.
Aspect Three
They have a highly specialised pointed pad in the back of each front leg that helps them abruptly stop when in high speeds during prey pursuit. These pads are a great adaptation for the cheetah or else because of the incredibly high speed the cheetah would whizz past its prey if it were to fall to the ground, such a loss it would be right?
sprint along
Get To Know Them
Cheetahs mostly hunt during the day and have an impressive eyesight, seeing prey that is as far as 5 km away.Their superior speed and agility makes them very successful hunters, stalking their prey as close as possible then initiating the high-speed chase to make the kill .
Cheetah in Action
The prey give it their all in trying to escape from the cheetah but in a flat out chase, nothing can outrun a cheetah . Have a look at this amazing video from BBC One.
Enjoy!
Best Places to See Cheetahs
Crazy about cheetahs? Here's where in Africa you're most likely to see these beloved cats.
Get Up Close & Personal
Wild free roaming cheetahs are found in Sub Saharan Africa, primarily in Eastern and Southern Africa. Their conservation status is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and sadly their populations continue to decrease due to human-wildlife conflict, their vulnerability to poachers, habitat loss and lack of prey to feed on.
