Cheetah

Classification and Evolution

Known for their great speed, cheetahs are large and powerful felines that was once found throughout Africa, Asia, and even in parts of Europe. Due to civilization encroaching into their habit and hunting them for fur, the cheetah is now only found in remote areas in Africa and Iran.

Cheetahs, with the jaguarundi and the puma, descended from the puma lineage of the Felidae family. There is some debate about where and when it evolved because there is evidence of them in the Americas; however, others say they evolved after their ancestors had moved to the “Old World” of Africa and Asia.

Although they are not considered to be part of the ‘big cat’ family as they cannot roar, Cheetahs are one of Africa‘s most powerful predators and are most renowned for their immense speed when in a chase. Capable of reaching speeds of more than 60mph for short periods of time, the Cheetah is the fastest land mammal in the world. Learn about the world’s fastest animals here.

Anatomy and Appearance

The Cheetah is an animal that has a long and slender body that is covered in coarse yellowish fur and dotted with small black spots. Its long tail helps with balance and changing direction quickly and unlike the rest of the Cheetah’s body, there are ringed markings along the tail which ends in a black tip. Cheetahs have small heads with high-set eyes that aid them when surveying the surrounding grasslands for potential prey. They also have distinctive black “tear marks” that run from the inner eye, along their nose, and down to the outside of their mouths, which are thought to help protect them from being blinded by the bright sun. The exceptional speed of the Cheetah is caused by a number of things including having strong and powerful hind legs, and an incredibly flexible and muscular spine which allows the Cheetah to not only sprint quickly but also makes them very agile. They also have non-retractable claws which dig into the ground, giving the Cheetah a better grip at high speed.

Distribution and Habitat

The Cheetah is an animal that once had a vast historical range that stretched across a number of continents, but their distribution today is much more scattered with a small number found in Iran and the majority found in sub-Saharan Africa. Although Cheetahs are still found in a few different parts of eastern and southern Africa, the highest population of wild Cheetahs is now found in Namibia in southwestern Africa. Cheetahs are most commonly found stalking prey on the vast, open grasslands but they are also found in a variety of other habitats as well including deserts, dense vegetation, and mountainous terrain, providing that there are adequate supplies of food and water. Cheetahs are one of Africa’s most vulnerable felines with population numbers being mainly affected by growing Human settlements that encroach on their native habitats.

5 Types of Cheetahs

• Northwest African (Saharan) Cheetah – The Northwest African (Saharan) Cheetah is a little bit smaller than its cousins, with a light-colored fur coat. Its spots drift from brown to black going toward the top of its back. The cheetah “tear stripes” are not always present.
• Northeast African (Somali) Cheetah – The Northeast African (Somali) Cheetah is one of the larger subspecies. It has a more coarse fur coat than some of its relatives and is overall the darkest in color. They also have a distinct white stomach and a thicker tail.
• Asiatic (Iranian) Cheetah – The Asiatic (Iranian) Cheetah is regrettably the only remaining cheetah in Asia. Their mane and overall coat are not as long as the African cheetahs. The sides of this cheetah are pale and gain color on the back. Their tail tips have black stripes.
• East African (Tanzanian) Cheetah – The East African (Tanzanian) Cheetah is a little slighter than its cousins. As one of the paler cheetahs, their coat tends to be tan or beige. This cheetah’s “tear stripes” are a little more pronounced than others, and its tail has black rings on its tail that ends with a white tip.
• South African (Nambian) Cheetah – The South African (Nambian) Cheetah is the nominate subspecies. They have a golden, somewhat thicker coat. This cheetah’s “tear marks” are wider at near the mouth and usually have brown mustache characteristics.

Behavior and Lifestyle

The Cheetah is unique amongst Africa’s felines primarily because they are most active during the day, which avoids competition for food from other large predators like Lions and Hyenas that hunt during the cooler night. They are also one of the more sociable Cat species with males often roaming in small groups, generally with their siblings, and oddly enough, it is the females that are more solitary animals apart from the 18 months or so that they spend looking after their cubs. Cheetahs are fiercely territorial animals that patrol large home ranges and often overlap those of other Cheetahs, and indeed Lions, with females tending to roam across a much larger range than males. They are typically shy and very stealthy animals so they are able to hunt for prey in the hot daylight hours without being spotted so easily.

Reproduction and Life Cycles

After a gestation period that lasts for around 3 months, the female Cheetah gives birth to between two and five baby cheetah cubs that are born blind and incredibly vulnerable in the African wilderness. The cubs suckle from their mother for the first few months when they begin eating meat and start to accompany her on hunting trips as they are able to learn how to hunt from watching her. Cheetah cubs learn the majority of their hunting techniques through playing with their siblings and remain with their mother until they can hunt successfully and leave to find their own territory at between 18 months and 2 years old. Sadly, one of the main reasons for such drastic declines in Cheetah numbers is that up to 75% of Cheetah cubs don’t live to be older than 3 months, as their mother has to leave them every day to find food to feed them, leaving the vulnerable cubs helpless in the face of predators.

Diet and Prey

The Cheetah has exceptional eyesight and so hunts using sight by first stalking its prey (from between 10 to 30 meters away), and then chasing it when the time is right. Cheetahs often kill their prey in vast open spaces but tend to drag it into a hiding place to prevent it from being scavenged by other animals. The Cheetah has to do this as it cannot eat its prey straight away, due to the fact that they are immensely hot after the chase and need time to cool down before it can feast. Cheetahs are carnivorous animals meaning that they only hunt and kill other animals in order to get the nutrition that they need to survive. They mainly hunt large herbivores including Gazelle and a number of large Antelope species such as Wildebeest, along with Zebras and smaller mammals like Hares. The exact diet of the Cheetah though tends to depend on its location.

Predators and Threats

The adult Cheetah is a dominant predator in its environment and is therefore not seen as prey (more as competition) by other large predators. The Cheetah cubs however are incredibly vulnerable particularly when their mother is off hunting, and are preyed upon by a number of animals including Lions and Hyenas, but also large avian species such as Eagles and Vultures. The biggest threat to Cheetahs is people, who have not only taken vast areas of its natural habitat for themselves but have also turned large regions of land into National Parks. Although these areas seem to be showing increases in both Lion and Hyena populations, Cheetah numbers are much lower as there is more competition for food with the increasing numbers of these other large predators.

Cheetah Interesting Facts and Features

One of the most distinctive differences between the different subspecies is that their fur color changes slightly, depending on their surrounding environment. Those Cheetahs found in the more arid desert regions tend to be lighter and have smaller spots than those that roam the south African grasslands, and are darker, slightly bigger, and have larger spots. Although Cheetahs cannot roar, they do make a variety of different sounds including a high-pitched yelp which can be heard from more than a mile away. The Cheetah is one of the most distinctive of the world’s felines and although it is fairly commonly confused with the Leopard, its name is thought to have come from the Hindu word ‘chita’ which means the ‘spotted one’.

Relationship with Humans

Despite their fierce appearance, Cheetahs have actually been domesticated by local people for thousands of years, as they were used to help with hunting for food for the villagers. They have also been kept in captivity for a long time, but as they do not seem to produce particularly healthy individuals, wild Cheetahs were regularly caught to restore the bloodline. Hunted by people as trophies throughout much of their natural range, Cheetahs have completely disappeared from numerous places, and along with habitat loss to growing Human settlements and the clearing of land for agriculture, Cheetah numbers are still declining rapidly in many areas today.

Conservation Status and Life Today

Today, the Cheetah has been listed by the IUCN as a species that is Vulnerable to extinction in its natural environment in the near future. Habitat loss along with the increase of natural parks that are home to a large number of competing predators has led to drastic declines in the world’s Cheetah population. There are now estimated to be about 7,000 individuals left in the wild, along with a growing number being found in zoos and animal institutes all over the world.