lb). Its total body length is from 112 to 135 cm (45 in
to 55 in), while the tail can measure up to 84 cm (33 in). Male cheetahs are slightly larger than females and have a slightly bigger head, but it is difficult to tell males and females apart by appearance alone.
The fur of the cheetah is yellow with round black spots, which help to camouflage it, and distinctive black lines that go from the inner corner of each eye and down along the side of the snout to the jaw. The cheetah’s coat is tan, or buff colored, with black spots measuring from ¾ to 1¼ inches across (2–3 cm). There are no spots on its white belly, and the tail has spots which merge to form four to six dark rings at the end. The cheetah's tail usually ends in a bushy white tuft.
Cheetahs also have a rare fur pattern mutation: cheetahs with larger, blotchy, merged spots are known as 'King Cheetahs'. It was once thought to be a separate subspecies, but it is merely a mutation of the African Cheetah. A 'King Cheetah' has only been seen in the wild a handful of times, but they have been bred in captivity (see below).
The cheetah's paws have semi-retractable claws, unique among cat species, which offer the cat extra grip in its high-speed pursuits. It should be noted that the ligament structure of the cheetah's claws is the same as those of other cats; it simply lacks the sheath of skin and fur present in other varieties, and therefore the claws are always visible. With the exception of the dewclaw, the claw itself is also much shorter and straighter than other cats.
touching the ground at a time, the cheetah can reach a speed of 110 km/h in seconds. At two points in the stride, none of its feet touch the ground!!!!!
Unlike true
jaguars
can roar but cannot purr, except while exhaling. However, cheetahs are still considered by many to be the smallest of the big cats. While it is often mistaken for a leopard, the cheetah does have distinguishing features, such as the long tear-drop shaped lines on each side of its nose that run from the corner of its eyes to its mouth. The body frame of a cheetah is also very different from that of the leopard, most notably so in its thinner and extra long tail.
The cheetah is a vulnerable species. Out of all the big cats, it is the least able to adapt to new environments. They have always proved difficult to breed in captivity, but recently a few zoos have been successful. Once widely shot for its fur, the cheetah now suffers more from the loss of both habitat and prey.
The cheetah is considered the most primitive of all cats, and until recently was thought to have evolved approximately 18 million years ago, although new research puts the last common ancestor of all 37 existing species of feline more recently, at 11 million years. The cheetah has lions and hyenas as natural enemies.
Classification
The genus name, Acinonyx, means "no-move-claw" in Greek, while the species name, jubatus, means "maned" in Latin, a reference to the mane found in cheetah cubs. Even when retracted, the claws remain visible and are used for grip during the cheetah's acceleration and maneuvering, performing the same function as canine claws.
The English word "cheetah" comes from Hindichiitaa, which is perhaps derived from Sanskritchitraka, meaning "the spotted one". Other major Europeanlanguages use variants of the medieval Latingattus pardus, meaning "cat-leopard i.e spotted cat": Frenchguépard; Italianghepardo; Spanish and Portugueseguepardo (also used chita); and GermanGepard.
Reproduction and social life
Female cheetahs acquire sexual maturity from 20 to 24 months, and males around 12 months (although they do not usually mate until at least 3 years old); and mating occurs throughout the year. The animals are promiscuous and polygamous - both males and females mate with multiple partners and no long term heterosexual bonds are formed.[1] Females give birth to up to nine cubs after a gestation period of ninety to ninety-eight days, although the average litter size is 3 to 5. Cubs weigh from 150 to 300 g (5 to 10 oz.) at birth. Unlike some other cats, cheetahs are born with their characteristic spots. Cheetah 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 cheetahs grow older. Death rate is very high during the early weeks and up to 90% of the cubs are killed during this time by lions, hyenas or even by eagles. They leave their mother between thirteen and twenty months after birth. The cheetah can live over twenty years, but their life is often short, for they lose their speed with old age.
Unlike males, females are solitary and tend to avoid each other, though some mother/daughter pairs have been known to continue for small periods of time. Cheetahs have 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 18 months of a cub's life are important - cubs learn many lessons because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey species and avoid other predators such as leopards, lions, hyena, and baboons. At 18 months, the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a sibling, or 'sib', group, that will stay together for another 6 months. At about 2 years, the female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life. Life span is up to 12 years in wild, but up to 20 years in captivity.
Territories
Males
Male cheetahs are very
Coalitions will try their utmost to maintain territories in order to find females with which they will mate. The size of the territory also depends on the available resources and depending on the part of Africa, the size of a cheetah's territory can vary greatly from 37 km²
to 160 km².
Male cheetahs are very sociable and will group together for life and stick out for each other, usually with their brothers in the same litter, although if a cub is the only male in the litter, then two or three lone males may group up or a lone male may join an existing group. These groups are called coalitions. A coalition is six times more likely to obtain a territory than a lone male, although studies have shown that coalitions keep their territories just as long as lone males - four to four and a half years.
Males mark their territory by urinating on objects that stand out, such as trees, logs or termite mounds. The whole coalition contributes to the scent. Males will attempt to kill any intruders and fights often result in serious injury or death.
Females
Unlike males and other female felines, female cheetahs do not establish territories. Instead the area they live in is termed a home range. These overlap with other females' home ranges; often, it will be the females from the same litter or a daughter's home range overlapping with her mother's.
The size of a home range depends entirely on the availability of prey. Cheetahs in African woodlands have ranges as small as 34 km², while in some parts of Namibia they can reach 1500 km². Although there have been no studies, it is expected that the home ranges of females in the Sahara are the largest of all the cheetah populations.
Vocalisations
Yipping When cheetahs attempt to find each other, or a mother tries to locate her cubs, they use high-pitched barking called yipping. The yips made by a cheetah cub sound more like a bird chirping, and so are termed chirping.
Churring, stuttering or stutter-barking is a vocalisation emitted by cheetahs during social meetings. A churr can be seen as a social invitation to other cheetahs, an expression of interest, uncertainty or appeasement or during meetings with the opposite sex (although each sex churrs for different reasons).
Growling, often accompanied by hissing and spitting are exhibited by cheetahs during annoyance, or when faced with danger. A similar vocalisation made by a cheetah when a threat is escalated is yowling.
Purring is made when the cheetah is contented, usually during pleasant social meetings (e.g. a mother with her cubs). Out of all of the
Big Cats
, cheetahs are the only ones that can purr while inhaling and exhaling.
Diet
Cheetahs are
gazelles
it mainly hunts. The bite may also puncture a vital artery in the neck. Then the cheetah proceeds to devour its catch as quickly as possible before the kill is taken by stronger predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas.
Habitat
Cheetahs thrive in areas with vast expanses of land where prey is abundant. In
farms
.
Cheetahs are found in the wild primarily in
Balochistan Province of Pakistan, though these continue to be unverified. The cheetah prefers to live in an open biotope, such as semi-desert, prairie