Cheetah — Speed Demons on Land

Cheetah is one of the fastest animals on land. It is one of a kind. Sadly, though, the Cheetah is on its fastest run to save itself from extinction. Let’s get to know this majestic creature.

How Fast is a Cheetah?

Let’s take this topic head-on. We know that the Cheetah is fast, but how fast is fast? To answer that, let’s look at a video where a cheetah raced against a Formula E car.

But first, what is a Formula E-car? Well, it is one of the fastest race cars and the younger electric brother of a Formula 1 car. It can accelerate to 100 kmph in just 2.8 seconds. Being electric, it is also greener than a Formula 1 car. So, why did it race a cheetah?

The racing was part of a promotion that intended to show the world the plight of the cheetahs, which can race a Formula E car but not against extinction. Therefore, the Formula E car was setting the stage for a greener alternative to preserve nature and our environment, thereby countering global warming.

Now, to the race. Here it is.

See how close the finish was? The Formula E car just about goes past the cheetah at the finish line. This was a proper race, and there is another 26 minutes video on YouTube, which shows how the race was filmed.

Now, being the city-dwelling land-lubbers, do we see what kind of creature we will be losing to poaching, environment degradation, and climate change? Not a happy situation for sure.

Cheetah — The Sleek Predator

A cheetah can cover 21-feet in one stride at its top speed and in three strides hit 100 kmph. That I am sure, readers would have already seen in the previous video. The cheetah is one of the big cats and has a distinctive sleek and slender body. The dots on its body is usually confused with that of the Leopard, which also shares territory with the cheetah in Africa. One of the distinctions is the tear-drop feature on the face giving an impression that the cheetah is in tears.

Here is a picture of the Cheetah with the tear-mark.

Once found abundant in Africa and Asia, the cheetahs went extinct in parts of Asia by the 1960s. In Asia, only Iran has some cheetah population remaining but is classified as critically endangered. The story is not too different in Africa, where they are categorized as endangered if not critically endangered. Most African countries realize the emergency and have taken concrete steps for their preservation. There are talks of reviving the Asian sub-set of cheetahs too. How it is going to be done is yet to be decided — whether it would be moving few African cheetahs to Asia or genetic regeneration of the real Asiatic cheetah. The general direction that all these discussions are taking appears promising!

Cheetah’s Prey — Fast Food

Does fast food apply only when food comes fast to us? In the case of the cheetah, it arrives super-fast at the doors of its prey. Fast food, huh? 😊

The cheetah's prey list is headed by the Thompson’s Gazelle, which can reach speeds of 80 kmph, while a cheetah can touch 120 kmph. So, the fastest gazelle is not fast enough!

The cheetah’s body is exceptionally adapted to fast sprints. It has a proportionally large heart to pump out blood while it is at its fastest. The spine is the longest among the cats and is flexible, allowing the cheetah’s to bolt over more than 20 feet in one stride, and interestingly, the head and neck are the only parts that do not move at all. That is understandable, as, at the super high speeds that the cheetah runs at, any nimble move by the prey could lead to the cheetah losing sight of the prey. This is avoided by the head and neck remaining stable and focused on the prey while the cheetah relentlessly sprints towards it. Lastly, the tail acts as a rudder to help the cheetah change direction at high speed, which its prey, the Thomson’s gazelle and Impala, are adept at doing.

Take a look at the explanation of cheetah’s running mode:

But this fast burst cannot be sustained for long as the cheetah’s body would overheat and shut down. So, the cheetah only gets into a short full-speed sprint, which is good enough to take down its prey.

Cheetah — The Hunter

While we have spoken at length about the sleek-killer that the cheetah is, let’s look at an actual hunt.

Take a look at this video:

The cheetah has semi-retractable claws, which means that the claws do not retract fully like other big cats. This ensures that the cheetah can dig into the ground for better grip while running. Unlike the lions, the cheetah is a solitary hunter. There are times when siblings pair up to take down prey, but mostly it is each cheetah for itself.

Cheetah — The Hunted

The cheetah is the leanest of the big cats and does not look capable of taking on even the leopards, which are matched in build to a certain extent,. As such, they occasionally are caught up and killed by the lions and also leopards. There have been reports of hyena killing cheetahs too.

Most of these killings are of younger cheetah cubs, but there have been instances when the fully grown cheetahs met their doom at the paws of the big cats. After all, even a fully grown cheetah would be one-third the size of a fully grown lion.

Here is one such instance when lions attack cheetahs.

Why do these attacks happen in the first place? There are two reasons for it, one, the pride sees the cheetahs as ones competing for the same prey item that the lions eat, and two, they see the cheetahs as ones who could be fatal to the lion cubs, should they cross path. These actions are not limited to cheetahs but also to hyenas, leopards, and other predators that the lions consider a threat.

Strangely, leopards kill and eat cheetahs while lions attack only to kill. Leopards seem to relish on their own larger species group.

For those still unsure about leopards and cheetahs, here is a pictorial comparison.

In cheetah, the body has black dots, while the leopards have a combination of black dots and circular markings with black dots.

Cheetah and Its Young

Cheetah cubs have a distinctive fur on the back. The need for the fur is not clearly understood as the grown-up cheetah do not have them. One school of thought says that the fur, which is white in color, apes the look of a honey badger, and therefore, could be a way to protect the cubs.

Take a look at the comparative picture.

But why Honey Badger? Well, Honey Badgers are considered to be extremely aggressive and take on lions too. Most large predators avoid conflict with a Honey Badger. In such a situation, if cubs that ape the badger are seen, predators may just leave them alone, ruing the outcome of fighting with a badger mom.

In a way, a badger mom is more difficult to tackle than a cheetah mom. If that theory is correct, then thunderous applause for evolution!

Final Words

By now, readers would agree that Cheetahs are magnificent creatures that we have to ensure that the later generations witness in the wild. For ages, the cheetah population could not be shaken despite the deaths at competing predators' hands. However, humans alone have driven these beautiful creatures to extinction.

It would be too sad to lose them. There is simply no other replacement to these rockets on claws!

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

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