Cool Facts About Cheetah

cheetah

Cheetah, the smallest member of the ‘big cat’ family, is quite popular for its sprint. This demigod of the wild, is also the most fearsome and precise hunter and never needs to make a second attempt to bring down its prey. As, though the smallest, it holds the honour of being the quickest of the clan, hunting down its prey with its speed rather than stealth. Preys tremble and scramble when it slowly moves closer but with a streamlined and sleek body along with enlarged heart and lungs, this royal creature springs at unparalleled pace to bring death upon its targets. Even the tear-lines on its face gives it a dour look, which, apart from intimidating its prey, helps in better vision by blocking the reflections of the sun near the eyes. Such is the unmatchable aura of a cheetah that it renders its prey and witnesses speechless. But honestly, apart from the fact that it is the fastest running mammal in the world, what else do you about it? It’s almost certain that most of you, readers, won’t know much. Rest of the section will focus entirely on enlightening you with interesting and fun facts about cheetah.

Fast Facts

Scientific Name: Acinonyx Jubatus
Common Name: Cheetah
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Acinonyx
Number of Species: 5
Habitat: Open grasslands in Asia and Africa
Skin Type: Fur
Size: 3.5 to 4.5 feet
Weight: 35 to 65 kg
Top Speed: 112kph (70mph)
Diet: Carnivore (small to medium sized preys such as hares, wildebeest calves, and gazelles)
Average Life Span: 10 to12 years
Age Of Sexual Maturity: 20 to 24 months (females) and 12 months (males)
Gestation Period: 90 to 98 days
Average Litter Size: 3 to 5 cubs (up to 9 sometimes)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable

Interesting And Fun Facts About Cheetah

    • The name cheetah is derived from Hindi language, meaning the spotted one, which is further derived from the Sanskrit word chitrakaya which means ‘appearance marked with different colours’.
    • Having gained the reputation as the fastest mammal on land, the cheetah, can reach up to a speed of 70 miles per hour and that too in 3-4 seconds. But, the tragedy is that this sprint needs a lot of energy, hence, tiring a cheetah in less than twenty seconds.
    • As a cheetah gets exhausted quite early and hence, it prefers to stalk its prey till it is almost twenty feet away. It waits patiently, hidden in the grasslands, and crouches towards its prey and appears suddenly, like lightning.
    • It is interesting to know that it seldom has to gain that kind of speed to kill its prey; it often does so at half its top speed. However, when it does run at its top speed and makes a kill, it needs half an hour to catch its breath before eating the prey.
    • It is quite impressive that when a cheetah runs at high speed, its tail works like a rudder and helps in steering the direction. Also, to optimize its speed a cheetah has enlarged nostrils, lungs and heart which allow the oxygen in the body to be circulated at a rapid rate.
    • The feature, apart from speed, which makes the cheetah the best hunter in the wild, is its sight, heightened sense of smell and a keen sense of hearing.
    • Interestingly, though a cheetah is a part of big cat family, it doesn’t roar anything like a lion or tiger but rather purr like a big house cat that is highly annoyed.
    • It isn’t so that all cheetahs have a spotted fur; there are exceptions too. The rare King cheetah is the only one with stripes on its back, along with the trademark spots of course.
    • Cheetah is the smallest of the big cat family, weighing between 35 to 65 kilograms. Because of being light in weight, they are lightning quick, fearless and fearsome hunters.
    • Cheetah is often confused with leopards, but these are two different species of big cats. Cheetah has long slender legs and a thin body, and the most prominent difference between a cheetah and a leopard is that a cheetah has long black tear marks which run from the eyes and end into the mouth. And unlike cheetahs, leopards can roar loudly.
    • Cheetah uses its speed rather than stealth, for hunting. It topples the speeding prey with its front legs, grabs its neck, and holds and builds on pressure on the neck till the prey has bled and suffocated to death. Cheetah, then, quickly eats up the prey, before the bigger cats come and scare it away.
    • The Cheetah primarily belongs to the African continent from where it gradually found its way to the wilds of Asia.
    • It is believed that cheetahs were trained by man as long back as 3000 B.C. for the purpose of hunting. Even the great Mughal emperor, Akbar, is believed to have kept as many as 1,000 cheetahs.
    • The best thing for a cheetah is that it has no natural enemies apart from hyenas, who are brave enough to attack only the young ones if they are left unattended. But hyenas too, do not prey on the cubs devotionally.
    • The female cheetah leads a solitary life, mostly because it has to tend for its cubs but the male cheetahs live in small groups of three to four members.
    • Cheetahs have a very high cub mortality rate that goes up to almost ninety percent when in the wild. The mother cheetah has to take care of the cubs till they are six weeks old and can follow her.
    • Cheetah, unlike other species, cannot climb vertical trees. It’s because its non-retractable claws and pads don’t allow for gripping the tree trunk. It also has bad night vision because of which it has to hunt during the day.
    • Female cheetah is polygamous and mates with more than one cheetah before impregnating. After a gestation period of three months, it gives birth to three to five cubs.
    • Cheetah hunts mostly during early morning and late evening which helps it in maintaining its body heat. But, interestingly it never chases its prey for more than a few seconds because this will increase its body heat to almost fatal levels.
    • Cheetahs are considered an endangered species and hence, are termed as protected species under Endangered Species Act (ESA) and IUCN Red List.