What is a What is a cheetah?cheetah?

Cheetahs are big mammal cats, who have a yellow to pale brown coat covered with black spots. Their coloring helps them hide in bushes and grass. Each cheetah’s tail has a different pattern of rings. Scientists use the tails to tell cheetahs apart.

What makes them What makes them so fast?so fast?

Their bodies are muscular and sleek. Cheetahs have long slim legs and backs that let them take big steps.

If a cheetah doesn’t catch its prey after it runs about 300 meters—the length of three soccer pitches, it has to give up. Otherwise, its body could get so hot that the cheetah might die.

How do cheetahs How do cheetahs hunt?hunt?

Cheetahs hunt over very large areas. A female cheetah might cover an area as big as 300 square miles in search of food. Male cheetahs hunt over smaller areas, but they fight hard to keep other cheetahs out of their territory.

Cheetahs don’t rely just on speed to catch dinner. They sneak up on their prey, and then they burst into a sprint.

The habitat of a The habitat of a cheetahcheetah

Cheetahs live in dry places, such as

grasslands. They can go a long time without water. They get much of the water they need from the prey they kill. Cheetahs like places where they can see for a long distance, so they can find more prey. Cheetahs also need bushes and shrubs to hide behind when they hunt.

The cheetah’s The cheetah’s reproductionreproduction

Male and female cheetahs come together for brief mating periods that last one to three days, following a 90- to 95- day of pregnancy.

Female cheetahs end nursing their cubs at 4 months. Female cheetahs reach sexual maturity when they are about 24 months old, while males do not become sexually mature until they are around 30 to 36 months old.

The cheetahs’ The cheetahs’ youngyoung

Cheetah cubs are born blind and helpless weighing 250 to 300g. They stay hidden in their den for about eight weeks while their mother hunts.

A mother cheetah may be away from her cubs for a day or two to hunt. While she is gone, jaguars and wild dogs often prey on the cubs. The young leave their mothers from 13 to 20 months old.

Are cheetahs Are cheetahs endangered?endangered?

Today, most cheetahs live in Africa. But cheetahs are endangered. People have hunted and killed cheetahs for their skins. Farmers also have killed cheetahs from fear that cheetahs will eat their cows.

The number of cheetahs in the world has been getting smaller for 100 years. Zoos around the world are trying to breed cheetahs.

They live up to 12 years in the wild and 16 years in the zoo.

The cheetah’s dietThe cheetah’s dietCheetahs are carnivores; their diet

includes antelope, wildebeest, hares, and zebra. They hunt during the day when lions and hyenas are not there to steal their fresh kill.