Cheetah

Cheetah

 

 

Cheetah Facts

Cheetah - Acinonyx jubatus

Cheetah Description

Do you know that the black spots of the Cheetah are very unique for each of them? They have golden brown fur with black spots on them. Yet if you compare the design of the spots on various ones you will quickly see that they all have a pattern that is original. These are very fast animals and they move gracefully. You won’t be able to easily find them in their environment though as their coloring gives them great camouflage.

Cheetah Anatomy

There is no question that the Cheetah is one of the most powerful and elegant animals out there. The sheer speed of it is something that many people are impressed with. The body of this animal has an overall design that gives them every advantage when it comes to movement. This includes a long tail for balance and the ability to see for a very long range.

They have padded feet that offer them plenty of traction. There will be times when this helps them to get their prey with ease. As their prey is sliding around on the mud they are able to continue being balanced and in control of the situation.

Cheetah Evolution

We don’t know as much as we would like to when it comes to the evolution process for the Cheetah. They have been around the Earth for the past 26 million years in some form. Most of the fossil remains we have from them have been located in the various areas of Africa. Those that are from Asia date back 11 million years so they did migrate that direction in order to survive. Many experts believe that was during the Ice Age.

The fact that the evolution process seems to be very slow for these animals could be why so many of the subspecies haven’t survived. The biggest concern with this is that they don’t have a diverse genetic profile. That makes it hard for them to change and also hard to survive now with such low numbers of them remaining.

Cheetah Behavior

The Cheetah isn’t nearly as aggressive as other felines. However, they are dangerous and they are going to show aggressive when they feel threatened. The females are more likely to live alone. However, they do have smaller home ranges that overlap. It is possible that the mothers and daughters stay very close to each other even though they have their own habitat areas.

For the males though they spend their lives in groups. There may be only 2 or as many as 6 of them. The males stay with each other from birth until death in many instances. For the females they will leave their siblings at about 2 years of age. They will be alone except when a male comes to mate or they have young to care for.

Cheetah Habitat and Distribution

There aren’t very many Cheetah that are left in the wild. Those that do remain are in Africa and Asia. They do live in zoos all over the world due to the fact that people love to see them. They are a prime attraction at many of these places but they have a hard time adapting. They can be very dangerous to care for in captivity and are very strategic when it comes to their movements.

In the wild there are  plenty of places for the Cheetah to live. The fact that they do blend into the surroundings so well makes it hard to successfully always locate them. They may be spread out in the mountain terrain areas. Others are doing well along the plains or they hide in the very tall grassy areas.

Cheetah Diet and Feeding Habits

Some days a Cheetah is able to consume very large sums of meat. Then there are days when they don’t get anything at all. They have to find food at least every three days or they can get too weak to continue hunting. You will find they are very careful when they attack. They do trip their prey but they make sure they don’t get in the way. If they get hurt they won’t be able to find additional prey and then they will die.

When they do take down prey they will consume it extremely fast. This isn’t due to them being famished in most cases. Instead it has to do with the fact that they know there are other predators around the area. They don’t want to have to give up their kill to those animals. Yet if they emerge that is exactly what the Cheetah will do so that they don’t get hurt in a fight.

Cheetah Reproduction

Even though the Cheetah males are ready to mate at about a year old they don’t have very high sperm counts. As a result of this they don’t always impregnate the females. It is possible for the young from a mother to have more than one father. Some of the litters only offer one or two cubs. Others have four time that many and it can be hard for her to successfully care for all of them.

Only the strongest will survive though due to the fighting among them for her milk. They also fight over the meat she offers from her hunts. Almost all of the young though fall victim of the various predators. It is too complicated for the Cheetah mother to go find food and to also protect these cubs. They are very vulnerable when she is away.

Cheetah Predators

The young Cheetah has many predators to worry about. Among them are other felines including the leopards and lions. They also have to worry about hyenas and eagles. They will go after the very young ones so as these cubs get older they are less likely to become a victim of such predators.

Humans are also known to capture these young cubs when the mother is away. They will be sold as pets because many people love to keep them. They enjoy the idea of a pet that is so original. There are stories of the Cheetah being domesticated as far back as the Egyptians. Still, they are wild animals by nature and have been known to attack their human owners.

Life for the Cheetah becomes very hard when they don’t have much land to explore for food sources. That is what happens as humans continue to move into these areas. They erect homes and businesses in these areas. They also kill other animals that the Cheetah needs for food. There aren’t too many farmers or ranchers that are happy with the Cheetah being around their land.

One of the main reasons why this animal has such low numbers is due to the demand for their fur. The upper class used to wear them as a sign of status and so they were sold for huge sums of money. The more unique the pattern of the spots was the more money that the fur would be sold for.

The success of some conservation groups is credited with the fact that the Cheetah is still alive today. However, the slow rate of reproduction, shallow genetic pool, and threats to their natural environment make it very uncertain about how long they will be able to continue living.

 

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