Scientific Name: Acinonyx jubatus
Size: 30 inches at the shoulder
Weight: 110 to 140 pounds
Lifespan: 10 to 20 years
Habitat: Open plains
Diet: Smaller antelopes
Gestation: 90 to 95 days
Predators: Changing habitat, eagles, humans, hyenas, lions
The cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal. Over short distances, it can sprint up to 70 miles per hour. Built for speed, it has long, slim, muscular legs, a small, rounded head set on a long neck, a flexible spine, a deep chest, special pads on its feet for traction and a long tail for balance. Distinctive black "tear tracks" running from the inside corner of each eye to the mouth may serve as an antiglare mechanism for daytime hunting. The cheetah is basically a solitary animal.
At times, a male will accompany a female for a short while after mating, but most often the female is alone or with her cubs. Cheetahs do not roar like lions, but they purr, hiss, whine and growl. They also make a variety of contact calls - the most common is a birdlike chirping sound. Cheetahs usually prey on small antelopes such as Thomson's gazelles and impalas, but also hunt small mammals and birds. Once the cheetah closes in, it knocks the prey to the ground with its paw and suffocates the animal with a bite to the neck. Once a cheetah has made a kill, it eats quickly and keeps an eye out for scavengers—lions, leopards, hyenas, vultures and jackals will steal from this timid predator.
Unlike most other cats, the cheetah usually hunts during daylight, preferring early morning or early evening. A shy creature that roams widely, the cheetah is not seen as easily as some other cats. The name cheetah comes from an Indian word meaning "spotted one." The young cub has a long gray-blue coat and a black underbelly that rapidly lightens and becomes spotted. Early peoples trained cheetahs for hunting, and many civilizations depicted them in their art and in written records. Cheetahs were so popular that Akbar the Great of India was said to have kept a stable of about 1,000.
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