06.12.2020 Animal of the week: Cheetah

Hello everyone,

this week's post is all about cheetahs. These incredible big cats are known for their speed, but what else?

Habitat and loss of it

Cheetahs live and hunt in the grasslands and bushy areas of Africa and the Middle East. Once, they could be found all across Africa and Asia, now they are heading towards extinction. The loss of their natural habitats and the decline in their prey is the reason behind this massive decline.

Hunting and Diet

Cheetahs have excellent eyesight, which they use to spot prey during the day. They then creep up on their prey, camouflaged in the grass. Suddenly they dash for their prey. They are the fastest land animals in the world, reaching speeds of about 60 to 70 miles an hour (97 to 113 kilometres an hour). However they can only run this fast for about 15 seconds before they overheat. After that they have to catch their breath for half an hour before they can eat anything. They use this method to catch hares, wildebeest calves and gazelles.

Cubs

Female and male cheetahs only come together to mate. The female cheetah then raises her cubs alone. There are about three to five cubs in a litter. They stay with their mother until they are between 16 and 24 months old. The cubs learn by watching their mother hunt. Soon they will hunt whatever they see including their siblings. This helps them learn. They enjoy play fighting each other.

We hope you enjoyed this post about cheetahs. See you soon!

Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/cheetah
https://www.britannica.com/animal/cheetah-mammal
https://cheetah.org/learn/about-cheetahs/
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/cheetah

Images:
Cheetah, owned by Ryan Kilpatrick (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
hunting, owned by anna (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Cheetah Cubs, owned by Ryan Kilpatrick (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

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