Cheetah
The cheetah is not just the fastest land animal on the planet. It is also one of the most graceful.
Few moments out on the plains of Kuno National Park can match the thrill of a cheetah on the hunt – the tension as its gaze locks on its prey in the near-distance, the astonishing acceleration, the agility that becomes a blur in this high-speed battle to the death.
Physical Characteristics of Cheetahs
Adult cheetahs’ weight averages between 75 and 125 pounds. They can measure from 40 to 60 inches in length, measured from the head to the hind quarters.
The tail can add a further 24 to 32 inches bringing the total overall length to 7.5 feet. On average, cheetahs stand 28 to 36 inches tall at the shoulder. The cheetah is a sexually dimorphic species though it is challenging to identify cheetahs’ sex by appearance alone.
Male cheetahs are slightly bigger than females and they have larger heads, but they do not display the same degree of physical difference between the sexes of other big cat species like lions.
Following a gestation period of three months, the female gives birth to two to eight cubs, usually in an isolated spot hidden in the cover of tall grass or thicker vegetation.
At birth, cubs weigh about 250 to 300 grams (slightly more than half a pound).
Their fur is dark and includes a thick yellowish-gray mane along the back.
This trait presumably offers better camouflage and increased protection from high temperatures during the day and low temperatures at night during the first few months of life.
Cheetah Cubs
At birth, the cubs weigh 8.5 to 15 ounces and are blind and helpless.
Their mother will groom them patiently, purring quietly and providing them warmth and security.
After a day or so, the mother will leave the cubs to hunt for herself, so she can continue to care for the cubs.
This is the most vulnerable time for the cubs, as they are left unprotected.
After leaving their mother, littermates stick together for another six months before the females strike out on their own.
Markings
Cheetahs are famous for their tawny coats covered in black spots, each arranged in a unique pattern to help the animals identify one another.
As the only big cat with a semi-retractable claw—rather than the fully retractable claws that help lions tear flesh and climb trees—cheetahs are the sole member of the genus Acinonyx.
Cheetahs’ coats can vary depending on their habitat. Although they typically prefer open grasslands, cheetahs live in a range of habitats across eastern and southern Africa.
Tear Eyes
Their Faces Are Distinguished By Prominent Black Lines That Curve From The Inner Corner Of Each Eye To The Outer Corners Of The Mouth, Like A Well-Worn Trail Of Inky Tears.
Distinctive black tear stripes run from the eyes to the mouth. The stripes are thought to protect the eyes from the sun’s glare.
It is believed that they have the same function as a rifle scope, helping cheetahs focus on their prey at a long-distance range by minimizing the glare of the sun.
Built for Speed
The cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal and Africa’s most endangered big cat.
Uniquely adapted for speed, the cheetah is capable of reaching speeds greater than 110 kilometers per hour in just over three seconds.
At top speed, their stride is seven meters long.
The cheetah’s unique body structure: flexible spine, semi-retractable claws, long legs, and tail allow it to achieve the unbelievable top speed of 110 km/hr (70 mph).
Before unleashing their speed, cheetahs use their exceptionally keen eyesight to scan the grassland for signs of prey—especially antelopes and warthogs, although cheetahs also prey on smaller animals such as hares and birds.
The cheetah is a daylight hunter that benefits from stealthy movement and a spotted coat that allows it to blend easily into high, dry grasses.
Hunting
Cheetahs are visual hunters. Unlike other big cats, cheetahs are diurnal, meaning they hunt in the early morning and late afternoon. Cheetahs climb ‘playtrees’ or termite mounds to get an optimal vantage point for spotting prey against the horizon.
The hunt has several components.
- prey detection
- stalking
- the chase
- tripping (or prey capture)
- killing (by means of a suffocation bite to the throat)
Cheetahs begin a hunt by stalking their prey. When the moment is right, a cheetah will sprint after its quarry and attempt to knock it down.
Such chases cost the hunter a tremendous amount of energy and are usually over in less than a minute. If successful, the cheetah begins eating its kill quickly to prevent opportunistic animals like lions and hyenas from getting in the way.
Cheetahs rarely scavenge for food and stay hydrated by drinking the blood or urine of their prey.
Conservation
Cheetah Conservation is particularly difficult given their wide geographic range—it requires large-scale, regional collaboration across countries. Hunting cheetahs is illegal in most of the countries where they can be found, as is owning them as pets.
They’ve been protected from international commercial trade since 1975, under the Convention on Trade in International Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
As with all other species fighting extinction, the problem facing the cheetah is complex and multifaceted. However, most of the reasons for the cheetah’s endangerment can be grouped into three overarching categories:
- human-wildlife conflict
- loss of habitat and loss of prey
- poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking
Conflict with humans, who they’re increasingly sharing space with, is another significant threat. If a cheetah kills a goat or sheep, the livestock owner may kill the cheetah in retaliation.
Cheetahs also face threats from hunting and the illegal wildlife trade, where they’re sold for their skins and as pets.
No one knows how many cubs are taken from the wild for the pet trade each year, but some estimates say it may be several hundred.
Cheetahs also face fierce competition for prey, and their cubs are particularly vulnerable to predation from lions.
Compounding all these problems, cheetahs have an extremely low level of genetic variation, which is essential for a species to evolve in the face of environmental changes and disease.
This lack of genetic variation is thought to have nearly caused their extinction at the end of the last ice age—and scientists fear it leaves them vulnerable to extinction today.