Cheetahs

Adapted from Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia, found in Infopedia. Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia © 1993, 1994 Funk & Wagnall's, Inc., Licensed to Future Vision Media. Infopedia © 1994 Future Vision Media, Inc.

CHEETAH, common name for the African species Acinonyx jubatus, of the CAT FAMILY (q.v.) , Felidae. The cheetah has about the same body weight as the leopard (50 to 60 kg/110 to 130 lb), but it has a longer body, much longer legs, and a smaller head. The head and body, without the tail, are about 1.8 m (about 4.5 ft) long, and the claws are short and almost nonretractile. The coat is yellowish-brown with black spots; the cub also has a spotted coat, but over the back and head is a mantle of long, silky, gray hair that remains for about three months. Cheetahs are solitary animals, except for a female with her cubs. Mature males generally travel alone, joining females only at mating time.

The body of the cheetah is adapted for taking prey by running rather than by leaping from ambush, as with the leopard, and the cheetah hunts by sight rather than by smell. Over short distances it is the fastest ground animal on earth, being able to attain speeds up to 112 km/hr (70 mph). It hunts by day, feeding primarily on antelope. The cheetah was formerly trained and used for hunting in India, where it is now extinct. In tropical Africa, where it lives on open plains, the cheetah is an endangered species.