Cheetah, Fast, Agile Wild Cat ... Underdog Of The African Plains

Interesting Information About Cheetah

Weight Of the Cheetah:

Male: 40-65kg.

Female: 30-50kg.

Life Expectancy of the Cheetah:

10-14 years.

Common Prey items on the Cheetah menu:

Cheetah mainly kill and eat small or medium sized antelope.

Main prey in protected areas include;

Springbok
Impala
Lechwe
Steenbok
Duiker
Warthog
Blesbok
Hartebeest
Dik-Dik
Rhebok
Kudu
Springhare
Mongoose
Ostrich
Guinea fowl

Predators Of The Cheetah:

The main predators of the Cheetah are African Lion, Nile Crocodile and Spotted Hyaena. Leopards will occasionally attack and kill Cheetah.

Cheetah Habitat:

Cheetah have selected habitats and the places you will most commonly see them in are open plains or savannah, semi arid zones and open woodland. This is one of the main reasons the African Cheetah is endangered, their habitat is running out very quickly.

When Are Cheetah Active?:

Cheetah are strictly diurnal and will not even move around at night. Large male Cheetah may become nocturnal in unprotected areas or reserves that have a low concentration of African Lion and Hyaena.

Special Information On Cheetah:

Cheetah are famously known as the fastest land mammal on Earth. They can reach speeds of up to 110km/h.

Cheetah are both social and solitary. Female Cheetah are solitary cats that raise their young by themselves. Whereas male Cheetah are gregarious and social animals and will form lifelong groups of up to 6 individuals. Cheetah mothers can have up to 10 or even 12 cubs, all throughout the year. Unfortunately very rarely do these all make it to adulthood, and in a whole only about 20-30% of all Cheetah cubs do so.

Cheetah are most common in Namibia and Botswana. In Namibia Cheetah live outside of conservation areas, and are often caught preying on livestock. More often they are shot on sight.

Cheetah are one of the very few carnivores of Southern Africa that will never scavenge, only in desperate situations will you observe a Cheetah performing this task, with a sort of disgusted look on its face. Cheetah only eat what they have caught, providing it is fresh. Cheetah literally demolish their kills after they have killed the animal, Cheetah do this to avoid a scavenger taking away its kill before it has eaten anything. When faced with other predators at a kill, Cheetah do not put up much of a fight and just move away from their hard fought prize. African Lion, Hyaena, Leopard, Jackal and even vulture can chase Cheetah off a kill.