It is interesting to note that scientists now claim all cats can be traced back to one (three at most) different cat kinds. They are easily tamed and have been used by man as a hunting aid. However, they will go hunting with their mother as early as six weeks.Ĭheetahs can be and have been domesticated for about 4,000 years. Raise their own families until they are two or three years old. Cubs are dusty white and begin to develop adult coloration at three months, though their backs and neck will remain white until approximately eight months. A litter consists of four to five cubs which are 12 inches long (30 cm) at birth and, like other cats, born blind. The gestation period of the cheetah is 90 to 95 days. The cheetah’s habitat is in savannas and arid, open grasslands in Arabia, Iran, Turkistan, and south of the Sahara in Africa. When they hunt in groups, cheetahs can bring down prey larger than themselves. Them by bursting into a sprint and intercepting quickly. Cheetahs approach their prey by stealth and then surprise Gazelles are their favorite prey, although they will hunt other hoofed animals. The females are generally smaller than the males.Ĭheetahs usually hunt at dusk and dawn, resting during the day. Unlike other large cats, theĬheetah cannot retract its claws. Black spots cover its body, and two distinct dark lines stripe either side of its face. The cheetah’s legs are long and its shoulders high, giving its back a sweeping look. Yet, even Bolt would have no chance to escape from an elephant, a hippo or a rhino.Streamlined and designed to run, the cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, reaching speeds up to 70 miles (113 km) per hour for short distances. In 2009, he covered the distance of 328 feet (100 meters) in 9.58 seconds at a speed of 23.34 mph (37.57 km/h) – a world record. The fastest human being currently is the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. A human being running at the same speed would be 1,242 mph (2,000 km/h) fast. A human being would have to run at crazy 478 mph (770 km/h) to keep up with the tiger beetle!īut scientists found out that there is an even faster, yet very small animal out there: a mite with the scientific name paratarsotomus macropalpis. Even though it does not get bigger than 2.7 inches (70 mm) and weighs only a few gram, it can run across the sand at 5.5 mph (9 km/h). The Recordįor a long time, the tiger beetle was the record holder regarding speed in relation to size and weight. But other than a 5.9 feet (1.80 meters) tall human being it is not bigger than 2.7-4.3 inches (7-11 cm). But compare this to a mouse: It can run at 8 mph (13 km/h) when in a hurry. A trained jogger can easily reach 6 mph (10 km/h), and we can make 12 mph (20 km/h) on any bicycle. Speed in Relation to Sizeġ0-20 km/h do not appear particularly fast to us humans. The animals are perfectly adapted to their habitats. On the other hand, the gentoo reaches a speed of 21 mph (34 km/h) under water, but only 1.8-2.4 mph (3-4 km/h) on land. It achieves impressive 40 km/h on land, but only reaches a maximum of 6.2 mph (10 km/h) in the water. The polar bear is much faster on land than in the water for instance. Many animals live on shore and in the water – and achieve completely different speeds depending on the environment. There’s a Difference Between Land and Water Only the Mexican pronghorn manages to cover long distances at a speed of 55 mph (88 km/h). This is very exhausting, and the animals cannot keep up these speeds for a long time. Mexican Pronghorn - Photo: Dennis Donohue/Shutterstock Short and Long DistancesĪll speed records here relate to short distances, e.g.
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