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| CHEETAH |
Cheetah differs a great deal from the rest of the family
Felidae. Great number of characteristic
is more like being part of the dog family – long legs, hard, padded paws and
with non-retractable claws.
The cheetah is known as the fastest land animal and it can
go up to 112km/h (70mph). Its slender body is more like a greyhound and the
back is very light and flexible, therefore producing long strides and accelerates
rapidly. The cheetah’s claws do not sheathed when retracted which gives an
extra grip on the ground when at high speed.
The cheetah is mostly filmed at the Serengeti Plain, in
Tanzania. It is an open area and therefore they can be easily tracked down and
filmed. They also live in wetter savanna, woodlands, hills or mountainous
areas. One place they will not enter iss the rainforest.
DIET
The cheetah hunts alongside other predators like lions,
leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and jackals. However, with it s high speed it will
hunt springbok, gazelles and antelopes and therefore has less competition. In wetter savanna it hunts impala, kob,
lechwe and reedbuck. Cheetahs hunt late in the morning while other predators
are still sleeping.
Besides their enormous speed they also run for about 300 m
before they run out of breath and their body is overheated. It does stealth and
creep with 50 yards, like a cat, and starts the chase. Cheetahs can overtake
gazelles and kill it. Antelopes have the ability of turning sharply and if it manages
it several times the cheetah runs out of breath and the antelope wins.
HABITATS
The cheetah spreads widely over a large area of Africa.
However, they too are under threat of extinction because of the spreading of
agriculture. It is though that at the moment they are about 14,000 animals.
Although it sounds a lot but it is half the number from the 1950s. The pressure will still increase the more
crops is raised.
HISTORY
Cheetahs evolved in southern Asia but not many survive. It
spread once across the Middle East. When
it was hunted for its fur it only left a few of the Asian subspecies. Scientists discovered that the DNA of today’s
cheetahs was so similar that they think it must have been wiped out at its
history. They also assume that it recuperated its number from one female. This
creates a problem for a low resistance to diseases. It could one day be a case
of being wiped out because of it.
TERRITORY
Their hunting can cross to other territories and several males
could end up in the same territory of the same female. The female urinates on
certain bushes, rocks or tree trunks. Even with several males in the same area
they do have their rules. It is only the dominant male which mates with her. The
others wait close by. The pair mates several times over the next few days. The
moment their time of mating is over they separate.
BIRTH
After less than three months the female gives birth. She is
by herself and brings the cups up alone. They normally have about three but it
has been know they had one and up to eight cubs. When they are born they are
covered by blue-grey hairs but on the top of their bodies. They are 30cm long
and weigh about 250-300g. The nest is well hidden in deep grass and deep in a
shelter of dense bushes. The mother still moves them every few days to a new
place. The reason is to prevent a built-up of strong odour and therefore
attract predators. In spite of all this precaution half of the cups get still
killed during the first three months.
After five or six weeks they accompany their mother and
share the kill but they still suckle till they are three months old. They stay
with their mother till they are between 13 and 20 months. During this time they
how to hunt. Eventually the mother
leaves but the cups stay together to hunt for several months more. Then the
females move away one by one and find their own territory and live there their solitary
live. The brothers stay together, sometime forever.
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