By: Mufeez Amjad
There are only two species of cheetahs. There is an African cheetah and an Asian cheetah. Cheetahs were once common in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Now they are found mostly in parts of Africa, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and India.
Cheetahs are cats that have hair and feed their babies milk from their bodies, which means that they are also mammals. Cheetahs are skinnier than other cats such as a loin and tigers. Cheetahs don’t roar but they purr like a house cat and yelp like a dog! Cheetahs weigh about 85 to 140 pounds and stand about 1 meter at the shoulder. They have long, thin bodies and four long legs. They have arched backs and long tails. Their tails help them keep their balance as they turn quickly while chasing other animals. The Asiatic cheetah is related to the Acinonyx jubatus.
Cheetahs are the fastest land animal. They can run up to 97km per hour as fast as a car on a highway! A cheetah can chase an animal for only a few minutes before getting tired. If the prey animal dodges and runs long enough, the cheetah gives up the chase.
Cheetahs’ claws are different from the claws from other cats. Other cats pull their claws back into their paws. This keeps the claws razor sharp for them to climb trees or defend themselves. However, cheetahs can’t fully pull in their claws. Instead of being sharp and pointed, the cheetah’s claws are dull. Cheetahs can’t climb trees or defend themselves like cats do. What they are used for is to run! They stick into the ground like spikes on football player’s shoes. Having a good grip can prevent the cheetah from slipping when it runs.
Cheetahs are carnivores so they eat only meat. They find weak or sick animals easiest to catch. Most wild cats hunt at night, but cheetahs hunt during the day. They usually hunt alone, but sometimes they hunt together and share a meal. Cheetahs have excellent senses of eyesight, smell and hearing, which help them find and hunt their prey. When it is hungry, it looks for a likely prey animal. Then it crouches low in the grass and waits. The spots on its fur help it camouflage so other animals don’t see it. The cheetah remains low in the grass. Slowly, it sneaks to its unsuspecting prey. When it’s close enough, the cheetah jumps out and runs after the prey. Some prey animals are fast enough to get away while others are not match for the cheetahs speed.
On the plains of Africa, cheetahs find many different animals to eat. They suggest medium-sized animals such as an antelope, impalas and gazelles. They also eat smaller hares and ground birds. Sometimes cheetahs hunt bigger animals such as zebras. Usually a cheetah eats its meal right where the animal falls but sometimes they drag the animal to a safer place to eat it. But if the cheetah eats in the open, other animal such as lions, leopards and hyenas can see its fresh meal. The cheetah has to eat its meal before the other animals arrive. Other animals attack the cheetah to steal its food. If an animal does steal its food it must leave hungry. Then it rests for a while and hunts again.
A female cheetah usually gives birth to 3 to 5 cubs at a time. This group is called a litter. Cheetah cubs are given birth anytime during the year. The mother gives birth in a safe place away from predators. The young cheetahs have silver tufts of hair called a mane over their heads and backs. From a distance, the cubs look like ratels (tough skinned, smelly animals that aren’t good to eat. Very young cheetah cubs sleep a lot and drink only their mother’s milk. As they grow bigger, they start walking and following their mother. They spend most of their time biting, pushing and chasing each other. This play – fighting makes them strong and able to defend themselves. The mother teaches the cubs how to hunt. First, she brings a dead animal. The cubs watch her eat and copy her. Later, the mother cheetah knocks down an animal but doesn’t kill it. She calls the cubs so they can learn how to kill it. Finally, the cubs must catch their own meal.
Lions, hyenas and leopards sometimes kill cheetahs if given the chance. Eagles and other predators have also been known to carry off cheetah cubs that aren’t with their mothers. “There might be as many as 60 and as few as 30 left,” says Dr. George Schaller, a naturalist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, which is based at the Bronx Zoo in New York. But for the most part, cheetahs have not many enemies in the wild. Instead, their biggest enemies are people. People are using more and more of the cheetahs’ living space, or habitat, for farming and building. As a result, the numbers of cheetahs are dropping. People also kill the animals that cheetahs hunt for food. In some countries, laws have been set up to protect cheetahs. Many zoos have also started raising cheetahs in hopes of returning them to the wild. If we protect these fascinating animals, there will always be cheetahs racing across the African plains.
The name “cheetah” comes from a meaning word “spotted one” in Indian’s Hindi language.
Cheetahs often make chirping sounds, much like a bird.
The black stripes running from cheetahs eyes down the sides of its face are important. They keep the sun out from the cheetah’s eyes when it hunts on sunny days. Since these stripes are in the same place a tear drop would fall, they are called “tear stripes.”
A cheetah’s nostrils, lungs and heart have to be extra large to help them run at high speeds.
An average cheetah chase is about 5km long, at about 72kph.
Cheetahs’ paws also have thick pads on the bottom that help grip the ground during high-speed chases.
Cheetahs usually creep up on their prey until they are about 46 meters away.
Cheetahs kill larger prey by clamping their mouth around the animal’s windpipe. Without air the prey dies in about 5 minutes. Smaller prey animals, such as rabbits, are killed with a quick bite to the head or neck.
Cheetah cubs are born blind and without teeth.
After eating their fill, cheetahs don’t return to their kill. Cheetahs only eat fresh meat, and will leave the skin, bones and organs of their kill for other animals to finish up.
Mankato, Minn, Markert, Jenny, Cheetahs
Child’s World, America, 2007
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October 30, 2009 at 9:27 pm |
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