Cheetah
Introduction
The Cheetah is one of the fastest land mammals on Earth. Their closest relatives are the lion, Tiger and Leopard. Its speed can reach over 110 km per hour and they can accelerate from 0 to 90 km per hour in just a few seconds.
Appearance
A Cheetah is tall and elegant in appearance. Large chest, narrow waist, long thin legs and a slim well muscled body that is build for this animal for its speed. A Cheetah's coat from ataway to golden tone covered in a pattern with nice solid black spots. A Cheetah has a long thick tail which has black spots and at the end it is tipped with a dash of white on to it. A Cheetah has a small head with high set eyes and short rounded ears with white on the back. The Cheetah has a tear mark that is tipped with a nice solid black on to it which runs from the inside corner of its eye down to the corner of its mouth. They have a long tail for it to keep its balance while turning into corners.
This is how they look like in appearance.
Habitat
Cheetahs lives throughout Africa, Middle East and southern asia. However most of the Wild Cheetahs is located in South of the Saharan Desert. With some smaller populations in Northern Africa. The largest remaining African Cheetah population is located in Namibia and Botswana which is in the Southern side of Africa.
Movement
The cheetah has the fastest land speed of any animal. It can run between 112 and 120 kilometers (km) in short bursts covering distances of up to 500m, and has the ability to accelerate from 0km to over 100km in 3 seconds. Cheetahs uses their hind limb muscles to run faster.
This is how they move by sprinting.
Food
The cheetah is a carnivore, eating mostly mammals under 40kg. The young mammals such as zebras are taken at times, and adults too, when the cats hunt in groups the kill is shared among them. The cheetah hunts by vision rather than by scent. The prey is stalked to within 10-30m, then chased. This is often less than a minute, and if the catch fails, it will give up.
This is a Cheetah who is chasing its prey.
Behaviour
Cheetahs camouflage (blend) in tall grasses when they hunt. They usually put their prey to the ground with a suffocate bite. they have to eat fast or they lose their time to hunt for bigger Carnivores. Male Cheetahs lives in small groups well the females raise their cubs on their own. They can be very playful and friendly but when it comes to hunting they are very serious.
This is what their behaviour looks like when is comes to being friendly.
Life Cycle
Cub is the first in the life cycle. It weighs from 150g to 300g at birth and is already born with their black spots on them. When it is already 2 months old they open their eyes for the first time in its life. At 4 months they will know how to walk for the first time. 6 months old they will get to eat real food and not drinks its mothers milk. They are pregnant for 90-95 days. Female Cheetahs can only have 3-5 cubs. 18 months the mother will leaves it cubs and they will go and form a sibling group for another 6 months. At the age of 2 they will find their mate and remain together for life. They will now hunt, sleep and mate. Cheetahs can only live up to 10-12yrs.
Conclusion
I would like to help save Cheetahs because they may all die. I hope people would stop hunters and poachers from killing Cheetahs for their fur to make coats. If we don't kill Cheetahs we would have a larger populations of Cheetahs.
Bibliography
- www.defenders.org/cheetah/basic-facts
- www.msu.edu/-bondeml/cheetah.htm
- Prezi.com/fty6hvxpdzaa/life-cycle-of-a-cheetah/
Books
- Finding Out About Wild Cats by: Mark Carwardine
- Animal Lives Cheetahs by: Sally Morgan
