Fantastic Creatures …

They are long-legged, graceful, and elegant. They combine powerful dynamics and are fast, agile, and supple. Yet, they have a majestic beauty that borders on aristocratic extravagance.

 Cheetahs are sensitive. They are tender and loving mothers. Their characteristics are highly specialized. They are also sharp-sighted; cheetahs can see much better than humans with binoculars!

 Cheetahs are energy savers. One of the most important rules for cheetahs is to avoid wasting energy.

 Their elaborate hunting technique, the heat of the day, and caring for up to five cubs all cost the cheetah valuable energy. Their entire daily rhythm is geared toward the economical use of their energy. Cheetahs are only active in the morning and evening, as well as during the cooler times of day. They generally rest during the midday heat. This is how cheetah life works, provided there are no disturbances.

Habitat

The only fossil evidence of cheetahs has been found in Asia. Based on this evidence, it is assumed that the cheetah conquered the African continent from Asia.

 From today’s perspective, the African subspecies has been much more successful. The Asian subspecies is now extinct in the wild. For example, the last Indian cheetah was shot in the early 1950s.

Currently, fewer than 7,000 cheetahs live south of the Sahara.

Population trends are alarming. Some scientists predict that cheetahs will only survive in a few protected areas in the near future.

Cheetahs live in areas that are cool at night and hot during the day, typically without shade. They prefer treeless steppes, which suit them well. They depend on large, contiguous areas. However, their habitat is constantly shrinking, forcing them to retreat into inaccessible scrubland. Life in the bush offers significantly more difficult living conditions.

Cheetahs choose their location based on their prey. They prefer to hunt Thomson’s gazelles, or springboks in Namibia. During migration, they use mounds of earth, trees, or rocks as vantage points to watch for prey or predators.

Until they are six months old, cheetahs remain relatively loyal to their location within a larger area. As the cubs grow older, they travel farther, up to 35 kilometres a day.

In addition to the food supply, possible dangers from lions or hyenas influence their whereabouts and may lead them to change locations altogether.

World-class…

Cheetahs are the best in the world!

They are the fastest land mammals on Earth. They can reach speeds of up to 114 to 120 kilometres per hour in a sprint, but only over short distances of around 600 to 800 meters. This must be enough to ensure their success on the hunt.

Their bodies are fully adapted for fast locomotion. They have long limbs and an extremely mobile spine. Their claws, which cannot be retracted after four months of age, serve as “spikes” that ensure they are sure-footed and quick on their feet. Cheetahs can put their hind legs in front of their front legs when sprinting. Their large nostrils allow for better breathing and oxygen supply during intense bursts of activity.

Cheetahs use their breathing to cool down after bursts of activity because they have almost no sweat glands. This means they consume less fluid and have no body odour.

Threats…

The cheetah’s natural enemies include lions and, occasionally, leopards, especially during the first few months of life. Lions kill young cheetahs and abandon them. The danger ends when the young cheetahs are big enough to outrun their enemies. Then, the cheetahs flee in all directions, reducing the danger to the family group.

The situation is similar with hyenas. However, as a rule, they are content to chase their prey away from the cheetahs.

The cheetah’s weapons:

• Attention
• Good overview of the terrain
• Speed
• Excellent camouflage fur

Natural treats have never seriously threatened the population.

If only it weren’t for humans!

As a species, humans generally cause two deadly dangers.

• They destroy natural habitats and disrupt and alter natural processes. This leads to an excessive increase in the lion population, for example.
• On safari, humans often disturb hunts out of ignorance or startle resting cheetahs in the midday heat. Cheetahs’ sophisticated energy balance and sensitive body physiology make them very sensitive to disturbances caused by tourism. Even minor disturbances can cost a cheetah cub its life.

Communication

Cheetahs primarily communicate non-verbally through thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Unlike the mighty roar of a lion or the piercing cackle of a hyena, cheetah sounds are generally quiet and reserved.

“Cheetah language”

• The mother cheetah calls her cubs with a high-pitched “meow.”
• The cubs’ bright “cheeping” sounds are reminiscent of birdsong.
• Their bright “cooing” sounds testify to their curiosity overlaid with fear.
• Purring symbolizes comfort.
• Hissing, typical of cats, signals aggressive defense.

Food

Wild cheetahs typically only eat freshly killed prey, not carrion. The main priority for a cheetah family is always to meet the energy requirements of the hunters. While the cubs are young, the mother eats when food is scarce, while the cubs go without. Later, when the cubs are able to hunt, this principle is reversed.

 Cheetahs have an elaborate hunting technique and an unusually fast metabolism. Therefore, a cheetah family has high energy requirements and ideally needs food every day.

Race Against Time

For cheetahs, eating is always a race against time. Since they cannot defend their prey from lions or hyenas, they eat very quickly and do not stay with their prey for more than an hour.

Hunting

Hunting Technique

 The cheetah sneaks up to 40 meters towards its prey without being noticed. If the prey looks away, it triggers the cheetah to attack. A cheetah can maintain a top speed of 120 kilometers per hour for up to 600 meters. It must then bring the prey down with its front paws. A targeted stranglehold on the throat quickly suffocates the prey.

 After a hunt, the cheetah’s body temperature rises significantly, but it cools down within 15 minutes through heavy breathing. Meanwhile, cheetahs are vulnerable to attacks from competitors for food. In this case, they abandon their prey without a fight. This means at least a double loss of energy for the cheetahs, as they must first achieve hunting success with the same amount of energy.

Cubs learn to hunt by closely observing their mother. From about the fifth month of life, the cubs start their hunting attempts with young gazelles, which are clumsy at first. In addition to gazelles, cheetahs hunt hares and birds.

Hunting Success

It depends on the hunter’s mastery of the technique, experience, terrain, and general food supply. On average, 10-20% of attempts result in success.

 Disturbances caused by careless tourist vehicles can be problematic. An unsuccessful hunting attempt can jeopardize the survival of one of the young.

General Facts about Cheetahs

Size

 Cheetahs are slightly larger than sheepdogs. Males reach a length of 2.2 meters, with a tail measuring around 90 centimeters. Females are about three-quarters as large.

They are solitary animals…

 Cheetahs are generally solitary. If you see them in groups, it is usually a mother with her cubs or young cheetahs. Males sometimes hunt in groups of two or three, usually as siblings. They generally do not participate in raising the young.

Copulation and Litter Times

Copulation and litter times are not tied to fixed periods. After a 90- to 95-day gestation period, up to five young weighing 250 to 280 grams are born. They are still blind during the first 8-11 days. The young are nursed for six to eight weeks. They are fed meat for the first time after 20 days.

Cheetah Family

A cheetah family consists of a mother and her latest litter of cubs. The mother is solely responsible for caring for, raising, and training the cubs.

 During the first few weeks of life, the cubs have long gray manes on their necks that recede as they grow older.

 For the first three weeks of their lives, the young stay hidden in the grass while their mother hunts. After that, they follow her but remain hidden during the hunt. Until they are six months old, cheetah cubs are extremely vulnerable to attacks from predators such as lions, hyenas, and leopards. Their only protection is their fur’s camouflage and hiding.

Playing

Cheetahs are born hunters. Their hunting instinct and all the elements that lead to success are innate. However, these skills must be perfected over time. They are trained through play.

They learn for Life through Play…

 All the relevant elements of later life are practiced through play, such as lurking, sneaking, tracking, and bringing down the “prey” (play partner) with the front paws and a stranglehold. During play, all behaviors and functional areas are freely combined, even if they are mutually exclusive in real life.

A relaxed situation is the prerequisite for play behavior. If the first cues of hunting or danger occur, play stops immediately.

Play is an important element of social bonding. All family members participate in it. Sounds of pain inhibit overly aggressive actions in playful fights.

When the mother joins the game, she demonstrates hunting skills. Using the tail as a steering rudder during bursts of speed requires particular intensive training.

“French Kisses”

are very important in the life of a cheetah. They groom each other’s fur, maintain social contact, and perform other protective functions.

They protect against diseases.

Licking the fur protects the babies from diseases such as rickets, which is a common cause of death in the first few weeks of life.

Cheetahs clean their fur with their tongues.

Cheetahs use their tongues to clean their fur, especially after eating when they need to remove traces of their meal.

Family ties

“Tongue kisses are also a sign of mutual affection that strengthens family bonds. Cheetah cubs have very close physical contact with their mother, especially during the first few months. This is particularly evident at night when it is often cold in the steppe.

 Later, the cubs tend to sleep together, while the mother rests a little further away. However, they never move more than 20 meters away from each other so they can maintain eye contact at all times.

To greet the first rays of sunshine, they have a ‘morning drink.’ The cheetahs lick the dew from each other’s fur. This is often the only way to drink in the waterless steppe.

A heavy downpour is often the only thing that offers them a real “drinking binge”: like many cats, cheetahs don’t like being wet at all. They quickly “drink” their fur dry again with their tongues.