Animal Fact Sheet
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Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus
What does it look
like?
Cheetahs are unique and fascinating animals believed to have evolved
in North America and migrated over the land bridge to Africa by
way of China, India and Asia Minor. Cheetahs appeared before lions
and leopards, and are the only species in the genus Acinonyx, rather
than the genus Panthera to which lions and tigers belong.
Although they look similar to leopards with tawny
yellow fur dotted with black, cheetahs' bodies are slimmer with
longer legs. They have been referred to as "a dog with a cat's
head." Cheetahs have a distinctive black stripe running from
beneath their eyes down their cheeks to the corners of their mouths.
Their muscular tails acts as rudders when chasing prey. White-tipped
tails help make cheetahs visible to each other.
- Cheetahs' eye pupils contract to circle, not slits
- Their claws are non-retractable
- Their heads are proportionally smaller with enlarged nostrils
- Internal differences include enlarged hearts, arteries, lungs
and liver, all of which enable cheetahs to reach the high speeds
necessary to take down larger prey
- Cheetahs are between 56 to 88 inches in length, 29 to 33 inches
in height, and weigh between 88 to 132 pounds
- Top speed is 55 to 70 mph for a maximum of 400 yards
- They can cover 25 feet in one stride at top speed
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| Where
in the world?
Cheetahs inhabit the savanna and arid open grassland of Africa,
south of the Sahara, as well as Arabia, Iran and as far as east
Turkestan.
What are some behaviors?
Cheetahs are the most diurnal of cats. They tend to hunt in the
morning and in the early afternoon, to avoid the heat of the day
and direct competition for food. Although they can obtain speeds
of 70mph, they can only sprint at the most, 300 yards before rising
temperatures cause them to stop, or they risk overheating. In order
to get within sprinting distance of their potential prey, they will
crouch and approach slowly, preying mostly on small and medium-sized
animals such as gazelle, antelope and calves of larger species.
Then, within 50-60 yards the cheetah will explode into a sudden
burst of speed reaching 45 mph in 2 seconds and will bring down
their prey by tripping them with their very sharp dewclaw. Once
the prey item is down, the cat seizes the throat by its windpipe
and proceeds to choke it to death, usually within 4-5 minutes. After
a kill takes place, it takes the cheetah up to 30 minutes to cool
down and “catch their breath” so that they may consume
their prey. They can eat up to 30lbs at one sitting.
Female cheetahs are solitary, separating from
cubs at about 1 ½ years. Males, usually brothers, may form
a “coalition” of 2 or 3 males, and will hunt together
and defend a territory.
What about offspring?
After 90 to 95 days gestation, one to eight cubs are born. They
nurse for about 6 weeks, becoming independent after two years. Cubs
have manes when they are born and their claws are retractable only
during their first 15 weeks of life. |
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What does it eat?
Cheetahs' main diet in the wild is medium-sized animals such as
gazelles and impala, and a variety of small mammals. But incredible
speed allows them to capture prey such as zebra and antelope.
Is it threatened
or endangered?
Scientists have discovered the genetic diversity of cheetahs to
be extraordinarily narrow, possibly due to a sudden die-off about
10,000 years ago which left only a handful of them alive. Since
then, cheetahs have become very inbred and therefore susceptible
to disease.
The Species Survival Plan (SSP), of which they
are a part, is engaged in an effort to increase the population and
to create as much genetic diversity as possible with the small gene
pool available.
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