The cheetah is a species of feline and the only species in the genus Cheetah, now found mainly in Africa and Western Asia. Cheetahs are an iconic species of wild cats that are well known for their incredible speed and agile hunting ability. They have slender, long-legged bodies and their coats range from pale yellow to deep gold in color with black spots. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal, reaching speeds up to 75 miles per hour. Unfortunately, due to habitat loss and other human activities, the population of cheetahs is dwindling and they are now considered to be a threatened species.
Unlike other felines, the cheetah relies on speed to hunt, rather than sneak attacks or group attacks.
The cheetah is the fastest animal on land, and at full speed can exceed 110 kilometers per hour, three times as fast as the world champion in the 100 meters.
Not only is the cheetah the fastest animal on land, but it is also the oldest, most unique, and idiosyncratic member of the feline family.
Cheetahs can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour and, with amazing acceleration, it has been measured that an adult cheetah can reach a speed of 100 kilometers per hour in less than 2 seconds.
However, cheetahs do not have the endurance to chase prey for long periods, and if a cheetah cannot catch its prey within a short distance, it will give up and wait for the next strike.
It is difficult to classify subspecies of cheetahs because of the high degree of genetic purification among cheetahs and the fact that skin can be transplanted freely between distant relatives without rejection.
Protein analysis of cheetah blood shows that the differences between cheetahs are very subtle, so the classification of cheetah subspecies has been controversial.
The prey of cheetahs is mainly small and medium-sized hoofed animals, including Thomson's gazelle, Grosbeak's gazelle, impala, and lesser hornbills.
For the sake of speed, cheetahs have evolved to be slender, with a thin waist and claws that are not as freely retractable as those of other felines, and are not as strong as other large predators, so they cannot confront other large predators such as lions and hyenas.
Although the success rate of hunting can reach more than 50%, hard-won prey is often snatched by stronger predators, so cheetahs will speed up their feeding or take their food to the trees.
The Masai people of Africa are also not very friendly to cheetahs.
The Masai are nomadic and do not hunt wild animals at will because they believe that only their herds are fit for consumption.
But they will use their spears to snatch the cheetah's prey, not to eat it, but to feed it to their dogs so that they can save the food for the dogs.
The poor cheetahs can only hunt again, but the consequence of high-speed hunting is a high loss of energy.
A cheetah may die of starvation after five consecutive unsuccessful hunts or when the prey is taken away because there is no more strength to hunt.
The survival rate of young leopards is very low, two-thirds of the cubs are bitten by lions and hyenas before they are one year old or die of starvation due to lack of food.
Cheetahs are feline social animals with friendly habits, so they will get close to humans.
There have been no incidents of cheetahs actively attacking humans in the world so far.
Do you have a soft spot for this animal?
