Interesting Facts About Cheetah
Interesting facts about Cheetah and its habitat
While lion is the king of the forest, cheetah is known for its chic and graceful nature. Though cheetah is smaller than lion, it’s the fastest mammal on land, as it can run at a speed of 60 miles per hour, which is relatively 100 kilometers per hour for covering a short distance. These big cats are termed the most endangered feline species in some regions of Africa.
Cheetah’s ability to run faster than other animals has attracted attention in commercial advertisements related to motorcycles and cars. To draw a comparison between a Cheetah and a motorcycle is not very difficult, but it really helps companies promote their high-speed motorcycles or cars among the speed-crazy youth of the world.
Cheetahs can run fast because of its flexible spine, which allows its front legs to stretch forward, while making it easy to breathe.
Some other notable features that help cheetahs while running are, light body weight, semi-retractable claws and a relatively short tail. It’s quite an amazing fact to know that Cheetah’s feet will be in air most of the time when it runs. When they are running, they will cover about six meters in one stride, though most sprints last no longer than 30 seconds.
As these daylight hunters have distinctive spots on their body that blend easily with grass and shrubs in the forest, they will hide behind grass and wait for its prey. They usually hunt small to medium size antelopes, birds, rabbits, porcupines, ostriches etc. Many documentaries on cheetahs have been filmed in East Africa where animals are easy to observe on the plain grounds. I used to watch shows related to cheetah on my LED television powered by Dish TV. I still remember a television program where they showed the hunting habits of cheetahs, like running behind a prey, catching it, then knocking it on the ground and suffocating the animal by biting its throat. Though they are good hunters, their ability to guard the hunt is very low, because we often see them driven off by leopards, lions or hyenas.
We can find cheetahs mostly in the grasslands of East Africa. Namibia, the Southwestern part of Africa, is considered home to one of the largest populations of cheetah in all over Africa. Mostly they prefer to live in semi-desert regions where there is thick bush and lots of open and plain land. However, they also live in a variety of different habitats like savannahs and mountains.
Cheetahs always like to be alone, except during breeding season. When females attain maturity at two to three years, males attain adulthood at three years. Mating can take place mostly during rainy season, that’s between the months of November and May. Cheetahs give birth to one to six cubs at a time and these cubs stay with their mothers until they are 12 to 20 months old. Cheetah mothers are very patient, so they spend a long time to teach their cubs how to hunt a live antelope. Just like lions they won’t roar, but they will growl, purr and hiss.
Many people have confusion between a cheetah and a leopard. But we can differentiate them just from their appearance. Leopards are bulkier and stronger, while cheetahs are lighter and taller. Moreover, leopards like to drag their hunt high up on the trees, while cheetahs hardly climb trees due to its non-retractable claws.
Cheetahs have a life span of 10 to 12 years, but its general habitat is being destroyed by humans. Cheetah hunting was a popular hobby in the past and their population has fallen to half its number since 1969. Now it is estimated that nearly five thousand to twelve thousand animals are left in the wild. Though there are stringent laws and bans on killing wild animals in many countries, cheetahs are still considered vulnerable to illegal hunters and considered an endangered species. It is high time that we took some measures that would help to save these amicable animals.
Ann is a freelance writer and she is interested in knowing more about wildlife. To get information related to animals and their habitat, she regularly watches programs related to that on her television powered by Dish TV.
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