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Cheetahs

Cheetahs. By: Charleigh Hall. What is a Cheetah?. A cheetah is the fastest living animal in the animal kingdom. They are an animal that is related to the feline family. Their scientific name is Acinonyx jubatus . The cheetah is more elegant and graceful than any other feline.

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Cheetahs

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  1. Cheetahs By: Charleigh Hall

  2. What is a Cheetah? • A cheetah is the fastest living animal in the animal kingdom. • They are an animal that is related to the feline family. • Their scientific name is Acinonyxjubatus. • The cheetah is more elegant and graceful than any other feline. • They, in my opinion are one of the most beautiful animals in the world. • The name “cheetah” comes from the Hindi/Indian word meaning “spotted one”.

  3. History • The cheetah came about about 4,000,000 years ago, way before any other “big” cats. • Cheetahs were common throughout Asia, Africa, Europe , and North America until the end of the Ice Age, nearly 10,000 years ago. • About that time in those places the cheetah vanished. • Today some people think that the present populations of the cheetah came from inbreeding. • This type of inbreeding is theorized and has led to the thought that all cheetahs alive today can be closely related as in identical twins.

  4. Extinction • Throughout history, a cheetah pelt was known and worn by the human owner of the cheetah as a badge of wealth. • Recently humans are one of the main factors for this animals extinction. • In 1900 there were only about 100,000 cheetahs worldwide…with today’s estimate at 10 to 15 thousand and 1/10 of those live in captivity.

  5. Habitat • A few years ago cheetahs inhabited an area from North Africa to India, but they are now found in sub-Saharan Africa. • Their range includes a treeless plain (sub-desert steppe), with some grass. • What habitat they do need is one with bushes, tall grasses, and other large plants in order to hide from predators. Range Today African Cheetah- red area Asiatic Cheetah-green area Range in 1900

  6. Movement • This animal was made for speed! • Every part of its body, virtually is adapted in some way to help it run faster. Their feet provide great traction, with their special paw pads and semi-retractable claws. • Their large nostrils and lungs provide a very quick air intake, a large liver, heart and other organs also help when the animal is moving so fast. • Their long bodies help lengthen their stride. • Just about every body part on this animal helps them move very fast. • The top speed for the cheetah is 71 miles per hour.

  7. Food and Hunting • A cheetah is a carnivore but eats, usually, a variety of small animals. • While some cats are nocturnal predators, the cheetah is primarily diurnal. • The cheetah hunts their food through sight, by scanning the plains from a tree limb or the top of a termite mound. • Stalking its prey is very important because it can creep within 50 yards to its prey before finally attacking.

  8. Social Behavior • Unlike many other animals which have names for both of the animals’ genders, humans give the name cheetah for both sexes. • Cheetahs may be divided into two groups: the family/females and the males. • Females/Family group: Young females usually stay in the same range as their mother. A female raises her cubs alone since adult male and female cheetahs mix only to mate. The average lifespan for a wild cheetah is 6.9 years compared to the 11.7 years for those of that of the female cheetahs living in captivity. • Males: Rarely does a male cheetah live alone – usually brother cheetahs live together and form a small group in which they hunt and live together. The range of a males home-ground is around 482 kilometers, compared to a females which is 833 kilometers.

  9. Caring for Their Young • The cheetah has a life span of 10 to 12 years. • After mating the male may leave after being with the female for a while, but often the female is alone with her cubs. • Two to four cubs are usually born in a secluded place. For a week or two the cubs are helpless due to their eyes not opening. • When they are first born and for about 5 weeks the mother leaves her cubs hidden when hunting, but when they are six weeks old they may follow her. The cubs can begin to eat meat by 3 weeks old. • At around 4 months the cheetah cub is a tawny yellow and almost completely spotted, the tail will have bands of black and by adulthood will have a white tip tail.

  10. Did You Know? • The young cub has a long gray-blue coat and a black underbelly that rapidly lightens and becomes spotted. • Early people trained cheetahs for hunting, and many civilizations depicted them in their art and in written records. • Cheetahs were so popular that Akbar the Great of India was said to have kept a stable of about 1,000 of them.

  11. Pictures

  12. Works Cited • http://www.cheetahspot.com • http://www.outtoafrica.nl/animals/engcheetah.html?zenden=2&subsoort_id=2&bestemming_id=1 • http://www.partnersinrhyme.com • www.google.com • www.yahoo.com • http://www.felineconservation.org/uploads/w1ll_cheetahs.jpg

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