The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. With acceleration
that would leave most automobiles in the dust, a cheetah can go from 0
to 60 miles (96 kilometers) an hour in only three seconds. The cheetah's chest is deep and its waist
is narrow. The coarse, short fur of the cheetah is tan with round black
spots measuring from 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.18 in) across, affording it
some camouflage
while hunting. There are no spots on its white underside, but the tail
has spots, which merge to form four to six dark rings at the end. The
tail usually ends in a bushy white tuft.The cheetah has a small head with high-set eyes. Black "tear marks" running from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth keep sunlight out of its eyes and aid in hunting and seeing long distances. Its thin and fragile body make it well-suited to short bursts of high speed, but not to long-distance running. These big cats are quite nimble at high speed and can make quick and sudden turns in pursuit of prey.
Before unleashing their speed, cheetahs use exceptionally keen eyesight to scan their grassland environment for signs of prey—especially antelope and hares. This big cat is a daylight hunter that benefits from stealthy movement and a distinctive spotted coat that allows it to blend easily into high, dry grasses.
When the moment is right a cheetah will sprint after its quarry and attempt to knock it down. Such chases cost the hunter a tremendous amount of energy and are usually over in less than a minute. If successful, the cheetah will often drag its kill to a shady hiding place to protect it from opportunistic animals that sometimes steal a kill before the cheetah can eat. Cheetahs need only drink once every three to four days.
Females give birth
to up to nine cubs after a gestation period of ninety
to ninety-eight days, although the average litter size is four. Cubs weigh from
150 to 300 g (5.3 to 10.6 oz) at birth. Unlike some other cats, the
cheetah is born with its characteristic spots. Cubs are also born with a downy
underlying fur on their necks, called a mantle, extending to mid-back.
This gives them a mane or Mohawk-type appearance; this fur is shed as the
cheetah grows older. It has been speculated this mane gives a cheetah cub the
appearance of the honey badger (ratel),
to scare away potential aggressors. Cubs leave their mother between
thirteen and twenty months after birth. Life span is up to twelve years in the
wild, but up to twenty years in captivity. The rate of cub mortality varies
from area to area, from 50% to 75%, and in extreme cases such as the Serengeti ecosystem, up to 90%. In comparison to
the Serengeti, the survival rate of cheetah cubs in the Kgalagadi area was
seven times higher.
Unlike males, females are solitary
and tend to avoid each other, though some mother/daughter pairs have been known
to be formed for small periods of time. The cheetah has a unique,
well-structured social order. Females
live alone, except when they are raising cubs and they raise their cubs on
their own. The first eighteen months of a cub's life are important; cubs must
learn many lessons, because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey
species and avoid other predators. At eighteen months, the mother leaves the
cubs, who then form a sibling ("sib")
group that will stay together for another six months. At about two years, the
female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life.
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