Cheetahs are a special breed of unique cats that are becoming endangered and primarily live in African and Russian areas, cheetahs are rarely found in Iran but small numbers live there. Cheetahs do not like to live in captivity and extremely hate crowds. Cheetahs are an endangered species because humans in African areas hunt them and skin them to sell there furs at a very high price on a African black market. The word “cheetah” comes from a Hindi word which means covered in spots. Cheetahs are athletic slender animals that have very strong thin legs designed to reach huge speeds in seconds. Their paws posses semi retractable blunt claws that improve traction when running at extreme speeds. There coat is made up of short coarse hair and is usually a light tanned colour that has scattered black spots all over it. They have a small head with high set eyes that improve vision when looking for prey. Cheetahs are fairly small animals and can grow up to 152cm long but can be as small as 105cm long; an average cheetah has a tail length of 87 cm and a weight of 31-64kg.
Cheetahs thrive in vast expanses of land and live in dry hot conditions, 95% of all cheetahs live on commercial farm lands. Cheetah can be found in a variety of places such as grasslands, savannahs, dense vegetation and mountain terrain.
Cheetahs usually feed on small hoofed animals and can last up to four days without finding a meal. Their common diet consists of small Antelope, young of large Antelope, warthogs, springhare and large game birds. When cheetahs can’t find water they feed on melons as a water substitute.
Cheetahs usually reach sexual maturity at the age of 20-23 months, the cheetahs gestation period last around 95 days and when the cubs are born they are about 30cm long and weigh around 300 grams. There can be up to 5 cubs in one litter but often 75%of the cubs are killed before they reach the age of three months old.
The majority of cheetahs hunt alone but sometimes siblings can form a coalition and hunt in groups, cheetahs are more likely to survive this way. During the mating season there are vicious fights between males; females also avoid other female cheetahs. Cheetahs use speeds of up to 110km an hour to hunt and use fatal neck bites to take down there prey. On average cheetah cover 7-8m with each stride.
Though cheetahs are great animals they are still endangered and are at risk from poachers and people who make them live in captivity. It is estimated that there are 12000-15000 cheetahs still left in the world, many countries are taking action about this such as U.S.A who having been helping save the cheetah.
Gareth
