Hobbies And Interests
Cheetah Behavior
The female cheetah is solitary and raises her young alone. Young male cheetahs sometimes hunt and travel in groups of individuals from the same litter. Cheetahs are most active during the morning and evening hours, when temperatures are cooler. They are sight predators, and seldom hunt at night. The cheetah is a sprinter, not a distance runner. It must sneak up on its prey in order to get within a range of 30 to 100 feet for the final sprint. The average chase lasts 20 to 60 seconds, and the cheetah is generally successful about half the time.
Cheetah Biology
Cheetahs have several unique features among cats. Their front claws are only partially retractable, and they use them to dig into the ground when they run. Their claws are blunt like a dog's, and cannot be used for defense. The cheetah's spine is extremely flexible, giving it a maximum stride of up to 28 feet. The cheetah's tail is unusually long, and is used for balance when it runs. Their spotted coat helps them blend into the background, and their unusually large nostrils are designed for maximum air flow.
Cheetah Habitat and Range
Cheetahs live in open grassland areas, where they can see long distances and chase down their prey. Cheetahs formerly ranged from southern Africa northward to the Middle East and eastward into Asia. Their current range is parts of eastern, central and south Africa, with a very small population in Iran.
Cheetah Threats
There are fewer than 12,000 cheetahs in the wild. The primary threat facing cheetahs is habitat loss. Their home areas are increasingly being parceled out for human use such as farming. Cheetahs are protected, but up to 150 animals per year are sold to zoos, research facilities and hunters. Poaching is also a problem. Cheetahs have low genetic variation, due to a possible bottleneck in the population during the last ice age. This makes them more prone to genetic diseases and less able to adapt to new diseases. Lions and hyenas often kill cheetah cubs if they can find them.