Endangered Species: Cheetah

Appearance

Cheetahs are 30 inches or tall at the shoulder, weigh about 70 to 140 pounds, are about 4 feet long and have an almost 30 inch long tail. The cheetah is somewhat different then other cats. Its body is leaner and its legs are longer. It has weak jaw and small teeth. The cheetah must rely on its speed to catch prey. The cheetah is able to run up to 70 mph but does not have the strength to protect its kills or it's young from larger predators.

Cheetahs are tan of buff colored with small black spots. The cheetah is sometimes confused with a leopard however leopards have rosettes while cheetahs only have spots. The underbelly of the cheetah is free of spot sand is white. The spots on the tail merge together to become stripes. The tail has a bushy white tuft at the end in most cheetahs.

Behavior

Cheetahs become sexually mature at 20 to 24 months. A mating period lasts between 1 to 7 days and the female's pregnancy lasts 90 to 95 days. The litter may contain up to 6 cubs. They are blind and helpless at birth, not opening their eyes until they are 4 to 10 days old, at which time they start crawling around the nest. When the cubs are very young the mother moves them every few days to avoid predators. She is unable to protect them most of the time during the first 6 weeks because she has to hunt for food. The death rate of cubs during this first 6 weeks is very high. After 6 weeks the cubs will begin to follow the mother to hunt.

Cheetahs hunt by stalking close to the prey and then breaking out into a sprint. They trip the animal using its front paw and then bite down on the neck of the animal. Cheetahs prey consists of rabbits to small antelope and occasionally the young of larger prey.