Is The Cheetah The Fastest Land Animal

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Sydney was a summertime intern with AWF. She is entering her senior year of high school and has a passion for wildlife conservation. She hopes to one day be a wildlife vet.

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I have to admit, I'm not normally a big fan of cats. But, for whatever reason, I cannot help but be absorbed by cheetahs. Maybe it's their grace and agility or possibly it's just the face of a chetah cub, but I recall these cats are incredible.

Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of up to seventy mph. Standing at virtually thirty inches tall at the shoulder and weighing between 110 and 140 pounds, they have long, svelte legs; a small, rounded head on a long cervix; a very flexible spine; a deep breast; special pads on their feet that assist with traction; and a long tail that is used for remainder at peak speed. The cheetah is also the only cat that cannot retract its claws, providing more than traction. They as well take distinctive blackness "tear tracks" that run from the corner of each eye to their oral cavity and provide anti-glare protection for daytime hunting.

In short, cheetahs are built for speed, grace, and hunting.

Cheetahs mainly prey on modest antelopes such equally Thomson'due south gazelles and impalas, although they volition besides chase small mammals and birds. When a chetah hunts, it gets as close equally possible to its prey before trying to outrun it with a burst of speed. The cheetah then uses its paw to swipe the animal to the basis and so suffocates it with a bite to the neck.

Information technology and then eats every bit quickly as possible while looking out for scavengers such equally lions, leopards, hyenas, vultures, and jackals, who will steal from the very shy cheetah.

Different most other cats, cheetahs prefer to hunt during the day, especially early morning time or early evening.

Most of the time, cheetahs are lone animals. On occasion, a male will hang out with a female after mating, but other than that, the female is either with her cubs or by herself.

Cubs spend a long time with their mothers as they learn to hunt. Mom will bring a small, live antelope back to her cubs so they can hunt and take hold of it.

Unfortunately, there is a very loftier cub mortality rate amidst cheetahs. Approximately 50-75% die in the first three months of life because they are so susceptible to disease and predators such every bit eagles, hyenas, and lions.

Cheetahs are currently classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN. In 1900, an estimated 100,000 cheetahs could be found beyond Africa. Now, there are virtually 7,500 adults left in the wild; the population has decreased past about xxx% just in the past 18 years.

The loftier cub mortality rate is simply one problem for cheetahs, though; they also face up a lot of man-wildlife disharmonize and habitat loss.

Over the years, the chetah's habitat has shrunk dramatically, and information technology is now only 25% of its former size. Where they do alive (mostly Eastern and Southern Africa), they tend to be plant widely but sparsely.

Cheetahs live where their casualty is: the open plains. However, as the homo populations grow and people aggrandize agriculture and civilisation into the grassland, more and more than of the cheetahs' habitat is disappearing.

The other problem cheetahs are currently facing is human-wildlife conflict. As people aggrandize into the cheetahs' habitat, their usual casualty is disappearing equally well, forcing them to prey on livestock. This causes farmers to view them every bit pests and kill them in retaliation.

To help combat these bug, AWF is working to engage communities and minimize man-wildlife conflict.

By teaching communities that share space with cheetahs how to farm and expand sustainably and providing incentives for using the best practices, AWF is encouraging the people and animals are able to coexist peacefully. AWF is also helping to construct predator-proof bomas (livestock enclosures) to prevent the livestock from every bit much harm equally possible. When cheetahs do impale livestock, farmers are given consolation funding then that they can supersede the dead animal without having to seek revenge against the cheetahs.

In addition, AWF is besides working to fix aside land for conservation to ensure the cheetah will always accept a identify to alive. When the Satao Elerai Order was opened in Kenya, the local Maasai community who owns the social club agreed to set aside the surrounding area for conservation, and now the business and the state is thriving.

Also in Kenya, AWF is working with landowners in the Amboseli region to set aside land to create a wildlife corridor between Amboseli National Park and Chyulu Hills and Tsavo Due west National Park. By paying landowners for each acre set aside for wildlife, AWF is making sure that animals tin continue to use their traditional routes without coming into harm's way.

By working with the people who live next with cheetahs, we can help make certain these majestic creatures will be around for generations to come.

All photos courtesy of Robyn Gianni

Source: https://www.awf.org/blog/cheetahs-worlds-fastest-land-animal#:~:text=Cheetahs%20are%20the%20world's%20fastest,of%20up%20to%2070%20mph.

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