Cheetah!
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| Courtesy: National Geographic |
Size: 3.5-4.5 ft / 1.1-1.4 m
Weight: 77-143 lb / 35-65 kg
Diet: Carnivorous
Lifespan: 10-12 years in the wild
Appearance: Golden yellow fur; black circular spots on the body; a black "tear trail" from the inner eye corner down to by the snout
Status:
They are now vulnerable due to mass habitat loss!
If you raced a (regular) car with a cheetah who would win? The cheetah. And not only would it win, but it would win by A LOT. That's because cheetahs accelerate faster than any old automobile can. According to National Geographic, cheetahs can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles/hour (95 km) in just a matter of 3 seconds! Their powerful burst of energy is released instantly. However, because all that energy is burned within a few seconds, their fast speed can only be maintained for a short period of time. After that, they have to slow down and rest, or they will tire out.
Cheetahs rely on their fast speed to catch their prey. They can run more than 30 meters in just 5 seconds! Here is a video I taped of the famous "Cheetah Run" at San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
[technical difficulty; video will be uploaded as soon as the problem is fixed]
Wasn't that amazing? Fast speed is only one way it survives. The spotted coat helps it camouflage in the tall grasses of the savannah, so it can stealthily stalk its prey. They are also daylight hunters. Their method of hunting is particularly interesting. Once they have spotted their target, they will try to get as close as possible, then leap-pounce into the high-speed chase. When chasing its prey, the cheetah won't attempt to bite the animal. Instead, it will try to knock the prey down, and kill it from there. Here is a video of a mother cheetah teaching its cubs how to chase and bring down a gazelle (so keep in mind you will not see the mother pounce on the gazelle, but you will see the cubs learning to do so)
video from Youtube, by BBCWorldwide
Cheetahs are solitary animals, meaning they don't live in packs, and after the male mates, it often leaves the female, leaving the mother to raise the cubs alone. Most female have a litter of up to around 3 cheetah cubs, and will stay with her cubs for around two to three years. She will, to the best of her ability, train and show her cubs how to properly hunt and chase down prey.
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| Courtesy: National Geographic Photography Photography by Chris Johns |
In a way, it is extremely difficult for cheetahs to catch their prey. This is because they have to have very keen senses of hearing and sight. As they are secretly stalking and inching toward their prey, they will have to immediately freeze or crouch down at any sign of movement. If the prey sees the cheetah, it will immediately sprint away, and it is up to the cheetah to try and catch up, or leave and hope for a luckier catch next time. As seen in the video above, the mother cheetah always freezes the moment the gazelle shows any hints of looking up or moving. Her reaction is probably faster than any human, not to mention those soundless footsteps that not even a gazelle can hear!
The next time you decide to visit the San Diego Zoo area, be sure to check out Safari Park and watch the Cheetah Run--the experience is priceless and you'll get to see a cheetah run at full speed in person! Or, if you want to see a wild cheetah chase a real prey animal in nature, head down to South Africa during the Great Migration season (check out my first Great Migration post to find the right time for you) and watch Mother Nature at its best.
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| Cheetah Run, San Diego Zoo Safari Park (sorry it's blurry) Courtesy: San Diego Zoo |
I'm sorry this post was probably not as good as the others, and I'm probably a bit rusty from taking a 2 week break because of school, but I promise the next post will be better! And since I released this before the end of the weekend, guess what? You guys get TWO posts next Wednesday instead of one! I'm still deciding which animals to write about (there are so many good ones), so I'll surprise you guys with my decision next week.
Oh, and if you ever do decide to go see wildlife in action for a vacation, be careful what you buy for your souvenir there, because maybe, just maybe, an animal had to pay the price.
Sources:
I have been to San Diego Wild Animal Park and watched Cheeta Run, OMG - they are indeed fast, it's like zoom, my eyes can't even follow it, it got to finish line already! Amazing animal!
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