The
Cheetah
The cheetah is a very clever and slim animal.
Its head and body are four feet long, plus the tail which is two feet long.
The adult is about three feet high and weighs over one hundred pounds.
It is brownish yellow with black spots except for the throat and under
parts which are white.
The cheetah lives in the grassy plains of Africa. He lives in a den-like
place with his family. He is also found in central and eastern Africa.
The cheetah's prey is often an antelope. He rushes to the prey and
stalks for a long time before he kills it. The male then shares his
food with his family.
The enemy of the cheetah is the tiger. The cheetah's cubs are often
killed by hyenas, leopards, lions, and tigers. The cheetah's spots
make him have good camouflage from these enemies.
Some other interesting facts about the cheetah are that he can't retract
his claws like other cats. He is also the fastest animal because
he can run 75 mph. From standing still, he can reach the speed of
45 mph in less than two seconds!
The cheetah cub stays with his mother until he is 15 months old.
He then goes out to live in the wild by his self.
From ancient times until quite recently, the cheetah was the play thing
of the wealthy. Because cheetahs tame easily, they were kept as pets
and used to catch game in a manner not unlike that of hounds today, although
only a single animal was used.
The cheetah's natural prey, smaller animals, probably caused the cheetah's
decline, although destruction played a large part as well. Also,
this shy animal does not thrive in a habitat with heavy human traffic.
Although the cheetah is timid, it has been killed by hunters throughout
its range. In 1997, a "sportsman" killed three specimens in India
in one night, using artificial light. They may have been India's
last three cheetahs since the 1952 spotting of
a lone animal in Madras has never been verified. In fact, the cheetah
is probably extinct throughput Asia except for Iran and Russian Turkestan
where a small number apparently survive.
The cheetah is staying on this earth by a thread. They
exist rarely in South Africa parks. Sadly, there are about 187 cheetahs
in eighty-four zoos today.
main
page