Cheetah
Cheetah

Order: Carnivora    Family: Felidae     Genus & Species: Acinonyx jubatus

The fastest land mammal on Earth.  The cheetah's anatomy is adapted for high speed hunting.  It can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h over short distances.

Habitat
Savannah grasslands and semi desert are prime cheetah country.  These flat open habitats are not only rich in prey, they also allow the cheetah to use its speed to the best advantage.  As it doesn't stalk its prey, it has little use for cover.  By climbing a fallen acacia tree or a termite mound, the cheetah has a fine view of its territory.  It relies on sharp vision to spot its next meal.  Although the cheetah is widely distributed across Africa, its numbers are sparsely scattered.  It is classified as vulnerable in Africa and the Iranian subspecies is classified as endangered.  Of all the big cats, the cheetah is least able to adapt to new environments.  		              Typical cheetah country                               Typical cheetah country

                                     

 

 Cheetah cubs are born with long grey fur. They look like a ratel, a relative of the badger, which few animals will attack. Breeding
The cheetah breeds all year round.  This is the only time the adult males and females are seen together.  After mating the male leaves the female and she takes on the responsibilty of rearing the young alone.
She gives birth to more young than other big cats, but the cubs are born unusually small.   This is because the mother would be unable to cope with high speed chases if she carried them any longer.  For the first eleven days or so the cubs are blind and helpless.  Once their eyes are opened, the mother carries them to a different den every few days to reduce the risk of predators, such as lions sniffing them out.  By the age of six weeks they can follow their mother to kills and start to eat meat.


Behaviour
Male cheetahs usually live in groups made up of litter brothers.  It scent marks it's territorial boundaries with urine.  If another male enters the territory of an established group, a fight may start, usually ending in the death of the intruder.
The female cheetah leads a solitary life, except for the 15 -17 months she spends looking after each litter of cubs.  The female is neither teritorial nor aggressive towards others of her kind.  Her range may overlap those of other female cheetahs.  She scent marks only to alert males that she is ready to mate.
               The male scent marks with urine to mark out his territory, the female scent marks to alert males she is ready to mate.
                             Scent marking his territory


  Fast food, cheetah style.
   The cheetah lashes out at the hind legs
         of its prey to knock it off balance.		 Food and hunting
The cheetah prefers to hunt during the day to lessen the chances of its kill being taken by other predators such as lions, leopards, hyenas and jackals.  It generally hunts large herbivores such as gazelles and impalas, targetting sick young or old animals.
It stalks to within 30m of its prey.  As the herd panics and starts to run, it triggers the killing response.  The cheetahs great speed enables it to catch even the swiftest impala.  When it is close enough, it lashes out with its claws, knocking its prey off balance and to the ground.  It then takes the prey animal by the throat, locking its jaws tightly until the animal is suffocated.  The chase will rarely exceed 200m and end in success.

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