Incredibly Quick Cheetah Takes Tight Corners While Chasing a Speedy Gazelle

An incredible chase like none other that we have seen before takes place at the Masai Mara Conservancy in Kenya, Africa. The world’s fastest land animal is on the hunt for one of the fastest prey. Before we dive into the chase of what happens here, let’s pause and take a look at the two animals, both predator and prey, who are among the fastest in the animal kingdom. The cheetah, the predator, is the world’s fastest land animal. And the gazelle is a close second in terms of the fastest prey. 

How Fast Can a Cheetah Run?

The cheetah is not the fastest animal in the world in terms of speed. Other animals, such as the peregrine falcon, golden eagle, and sailfish, surpass the speed of a cheetah. However, in the wild and on land, the cheetah is the apex predator in terms of speed. 

Cheetahs can reach up to incredible speeds of 70+ miles per hour. While this is incredible, it doesn’t mean that other animals don’t give them a run for their money. Let’s take a look at the gazelle. 

How Fast Can a Gazelle Run? 

Gazelles are beautiful mammals that are desired by many carnivorous animals, such as the cheetah. Even though the gazelle is not as fast, the cheetah being the fastest in the wild, it can still reach incredible speeds. The gazelle can reach quick speeds of 60 miles per hour. Certainly, this 10 miles per hour is a close match between the two. This is why we can see such a struggle between the two in this fascinating chase. 

The video posted below starts with a cheetah eyeing out the plains in front of him. He catches sight of a small herd of gazelles. He begins his chase, and all the gazelles disperse. We see the cheetah struggling to catch these swift gazelles. And the one he is chasing is trying his best to maneuver the landscape to lose the cheetah. It’s not long, however, before this cheetah catches up. 

The Maasai Sightings YouTube page description of this video offers their explanation as to why this cheetah was able to catch up so quickly due to their speed. 

“One of these felines’ most prominent characteristics is their light body weight, which helps them gain speed faster. On top of that, they have small heads and long legs to get the best out of aerodynamics law. Also, their flexible spine allows for extreme extension during the run.”

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