Cheetah facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CheetahTemporal range: late Pliocene to Recent
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Acinonyx
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| Acinonyx jubatus |
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A cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat which lives in Africa. Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal and can chase its prey for 270 meters (almost a sixth of a mile) at the speed of 114 kilometers (almost 71 miles per hour) per hour. Cheetahs can generally live up to 7 years.
Contents
Appearance
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Cheetahs are rather dog-like, medium-sized spotted cats with long legs and slender, but muscular, bodies. They have a white belly, and a dark stripe that looks like a tear on both sides of their faces, cheetahs have round dark spots on their fur. Adult cheetahs weigh from 90 to 140 pounds (40-65 kg), and are around 4 to 5 feet (112-135 cm) in length.
Their long tail provides them with balance. They have a big chest, a narrow waist, and powerful muscles in their hind legs. They have small heads and muzzles; large nostrils for increased oxygen intake; and small, round ears. All of this makes the cheetah very sleek and aerodynamic when it runs. Cheetahs do not roar, but they make a number of sounds, many of which resemble bird chirps which can be heard at a distance of a mile away. Apart from pumas, cheetahs are the only big cats that purr.
Cheetahs have a high concentration of nerve cells, arranged in a band in the centre of the eyes. This arrangement, called a "visual streak", significantly enhances the sharpness of the vision.
Behaviour
Cheetahs are diurnal (active mainly during the day), whereas leopards, tigers, and lions are nocturnal (active mainly at night); diurnality allows better observation and monitoring of the animal. Hunting is the major activity throughout the day; peaks are observed during dawn and dusk indicating crepuscular tendencies. Groups rest in grassy clearings after dusk, though males and juveniles often roam around at night. The cheetah is an alert animal; individuals often inspect their vicinity at observation points such as elevations. Even while resting, they take turns at keeping a lookout.
Cheetahs engage in several displays during fights, hunting, or self-defence. Prior to a sprint, the cheetah will hold its head down, with aggression on its face, and approach the target in a stiff gait. The aggressive expression is maintained during the run. To defend itself or its prey, a cheetah will hold its body low to the ground, and produce a snarl with its mouth wide open, the eyes staring threateningly ahead and the ears folded backward. This may be accompanied by moans, hisses, and growls. In more severe cases, the ground is hit with the paws.
Habitat
Today, most cheetahs are found in sub-Saharan Africa, though a few are still seen in Asia in Iran. In the past, they used to be found throughout northern India and Iran. They prefer to live in semi-deserts, savannas, prairies, and thick brush. As they rely upon speed to hunt, they avoid dense forests. Conservation efforts are required in order to avoid the cheetah becoming an entry on the endangered species list.
In India, the forests in which many cheetahs live are not secured and they can leave the forests and travel into cities or villages. In the last 2-3 years, cheetahs have been found in these urban areas.
They are well-adapted to living in arid environments. In the Kalahari desert, they have been estimated to travel an average of 82 km between drinks of water.
Diet
Cheetahs are active during the day, and hunt in the early morning or late evening. Cheetahs mostly eat mammals like gazelles, impala, gnu calves, and hares. Male cheetahs, which are larger and heavier than females, can go after larger prey.
Cheetahs stalk their prey until they are within about thirty meters, and then give chase. Cheetahs catch their prey by tripping it during the chase; the cheetah can use its strong dewclaw to knock the prey off its balance. The chase is usually over in less than a minute, and if the cheetah doesn't catch its prey quickly, it will often give up rather than waste energy. This is because cheetahs use a lot of energy when chasing prey at such high speed. They are very fast runners due to the build of their legs and about half of the chases are successful. After running at full speed, a cheetah must rest at least 15 minutes before running again.
The prey is then taken to a shaded place; the cheetah, highly exhausted after the chase, rests beside the kill and pants heavily for nearly five to 55 minutes. Groups of cheetah devour the kill peacefully, though minor growling may be observed. Cheetahs not involved in hunting will immediately start eating. Cheetahs can consume large quantities of food.
Cheetahs must eat their catch quickly or risk losing their food to other stronger predators like lions or hyenas. They will not usually fight with a larger animal over food as risking an injury would mean certain starvation. Cheetahs do not usually eat the skin or bones of their prey.
Because of its prowess at hunting, the cheetah was tamed and used to kill game at hunts in the past.
Reproduction
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Pregnant females give birth to about 3 to 5 cubs after three months pregnancy. It takes two years of full-time supervision by the mother before the cubs are ready to live independent lives. They need to learn how to catch prey, and that takes time. The young are vulnerable to larger predators: lions especially try to kill cheetahs.
The lifespan of wild cheetahs is 14 to 15 years for females, males generally live as long as 10 years.
Communication
Cheetahs communicate using special vocalisations:
- Chirping: A chirp (or a "stutter-bark") is an intense bird-like call and lasts less than a second. Cheetahs chirp when they are excited, for instance, when gathered around a kill. Other uses include summoning concealed or lost cubs by the mother, or as a greeting or courtship between adults. The cheetah's chirp is similar to the soft roar of the lion, and its churr as the latter's loud roar. A similar but louder call ('yelp') can be heard from up to 2 km (1.2 mi) away; this call is typically used by mothers to locate lost cubs, or by cubs to find their mothers and siblings.
- Churring (or churtling): A churr is a shrill, staccato call that can last up to two seconds. Churring and chirping have been noted for their similarity to the soft and loud roars of the lion. It is produced in similar context as chirping, but a study of feeding cheetahs found chirping to be much more common.
- Purring: Similar to purring in domestic cats but much louder, it is produced when the cheetah is content, and as a form of greeting or when licking one another. It involves continuous sound production alternating between egressive and ingressive airstreams.
- Agonistic sounds: These include bleating, coughing, growling, hissing, meowing and moaning (or yowling). A bleat indicates distress, for instance when a cheetah confronts a predator that has stolen its kill. Growls, hisses and moans are accompanied by multiple, strong hits on the ground with the front paw, during which the cheetah may retreat by a few metres. A meow, though a versatile call, is typically associated with discomfort or irritation.
- Other vocalisations: Individuals can make a gurgling noise as part of a close, amicable interaction. A "nyam nyam" sound may be produced while eating. Apart from chirping, mothers can use a repeated "ihn ihn" is to gather cubs, and a "prr prr" is to guide them on a journey. A low-pitched alarm call is used to warn the cubs to stand still. Bickering cubs can let out a "whirr"—the pitch rises with the intensity of the quarrel and ends on a harsh note.
Status and threats
The cheetah is threatened by several factors:
- habitat loss;
- shortage of prey;
- illegal wildlife trade;
- roadkill;
- infectious diseases.
The cheetah has been classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN, it is threatened by habitat loss through agricultural and industrial expansion; moreover, the species apparently requires a large area to live in as indicated by its low population densities. It appears to be less capable of coexisting with humans than the leopard. Human interference disturbs hunting and feeding of cheetah. With 76% of its range consisting of unprotected land, the cheetah is often targeted by farmers and pastoralists who attempt to protect their livestock. However, cheetah is not known to prey on livestock.
Game hunters may also try to harm cheetahs as they deprive them of valuable game.
As of February 2023, there are less than 7,000 adult cheetahs left in the wild globally. Scientists estimate that fewer than 8,000 African cheetahs are living in the wild today and that there may be fewer than 50 Asian cheetahs left.
In culture
The cheetah has been widely portrayed in a variety of artistic works. In 1764, English painter George Stubbs commemorated the gifting of a cheetah to George III by the English Governor of Madras, Sir George Pigot in his painting Cheetah with Two Indian Attendants and a Stag. The painting depicts a cheetah, hooded and collared by two Indian servants, along with a stag it was supposed to prey upon. The 1896 painting The Caress by the 19th-century Belgian symbolist painter Fernand Khnopff is a representation of the myth of Oedipus and the Sphinx and portrays a creature with a woman's head and a cheetah's body.
Two cheetahs are depicted standing upright and supporting a crown in the coat of arms of the Free State (South Africa).
In 1969, Joy Adamson, of Born Free fame, wrote The Spotted Sphinx, a biography of her pet cheetah Pippa. Hussein, An Entertainment, a novel by Patrick O'Brian set in the British Raj period in India, illustrates the practice of royalty keeping and training cheetahs to hunt antelopes. The book How It Was with Dooms tells the true story of a family raising an orphaned cheetah cub named Dooms in Kenya. The 2005 film Duma was based loosely on this book. The animated series ThunderCats had a character named "Cheetara", an anthropomorphic cheetah, voiced by Lynne Lipton. Comic book heroine Wonder Woman's chief adversary is Barbara Ann Minerva alias The Cheetah.
The Bill Thomas Cheetah American racing car, a Chevrolet-based coupe first designed and driven in 1963, was an attempt to challenge Carroll Shelby's Shelby Cobra in American sports car competition of the 1960s. Because only two dozen or fewer chassis were built, with only a dozen complete cars, the Cheetah was never homologated for competition beyond prototype status; its production ended in 1966. In 1986, Frito-Lay introduced Chester Cheetah, an anthropomorphic cheetah, as the mascot for their snack food Cheetos. The Mac OS X 10.0 was code-named "Cheetah".
Interesting facts about the cheetah
- The name "cheetah" is derived from Hindustani and means 'variegated', 'adorned' or 'painted'.
- In the past, the cheetah was often called "hunting leopard" because they could be tamed and used for coursing.
- In 1777, Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber gave the cheetah the scientific name Felis jubatus.
- The cheetah's closest relatives are the cougar (Puma concolor) and the jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi).
- Cheetah-like cats are known from as late as 10,000 years ago from the Old World.
- The king cheetah is a variety of cheetah with a rare mutation for cream-coloured fur marked with large, blotchy spots and three dark, wide stripes extending from the neck to the tail.
- Both the male and the female of the species are referred to as 'cheetahs' unlike many other animals.
- A study gave the bite force quotient (BFQ) of the cheetah as 119, close to that for the lion (112).
- The cheetah shows little aggression toward humans, and can be tamed easily, as it has been since antiquity. According to historians, the cheetah was first tamed in Sumer and this gradually spread out to central and northern Africa, from where it reached India.
Images for kids
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An illustration of the "woolly cheetah" (described as Felis lanea) from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1877)
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King cheetah. Note the distinctive coat pattern.
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Cheetah portrait showing black "tear marks" running from the corners of the eyes down the side of the nose
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Close view of a cheetah. Note the lightly built, slender body, spotted coat and long tail.
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Cheetahs occur in various habitats, such as the grasslands of the Serengeti
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The Cheetah Conservation Fund's Field and Research Centre in Otjiwarongo (Namibia)
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Jairam Ramesh at the Cheetah Outreach Centre near Cape Town in 2010, during his visit to discuss cheetah translocation from South Africa to India
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A cheetah in the St. Louis Zoo
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Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian, 1523
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A hieroglyph from Deir el-Bahari depicting leashed cheetahs ("panthers")
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Sketch of cheetahs belonging to the Nawab of Oudh with attendants (1844)
See also
In Spanish: Acinonyx jubatus para niños
