text x_quick_Title2=Class: Mammalia~Order: Carnivora~Family: Felidae~(Acinonyx jubatus)
text x_quick=Where In the World~\
` Cheetahs are found in Africa south of the Sahara. A few are still found in Iran, Afghanistan, and a few nearby former Soviet republics.~` At one time, cheetahs occurred from Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula to Tadzhik and central India, and throughout Africa (except in the tropical forest zone and the central Sahara).~` There are fewer than 15,000 cheetahs left in the wild.~ ~Take a Look!~` Cheetahs are about four feet long, with an extra-long tail that can be almost three feet long. They are usually a little less than three feet tall at the shoulder.~` Adults weigh between 85 and 150 pounds.~\
The cheetah's rough, yellow-ochre coat is uniformly patterned with round black spots, and a short (barely visible) mane is present on the nape of the neck. ~ ~All in the Family~` The cheetah has no very close relatives, but as a member of the cat family, it is related to the other big cats, the lion, tiger, leopard, etc. ~Just the Facts~` The cheetah is the fastest mammal on land. Its head seems almost too small for the sleek, long body and long legs.~\
Cheetahs are solitary, and rarely hunt in groups. The closest bond is between a mother and her cubs.~\
Cheetahs are most active in the daylight and hunt by chasing down their prey.~` Cheetahs hunt gazelles, impalas, and other antelope-type animals, as well as the calves of larger beasts.~They will also hunt for hares and other small mammals, and birds.~` An adult female has a litter of kittens every 17 to 20 months. She is pregnant for about three months and has between one and eight kittens (three to five is most common).~` Captive cheetahs have lived up to 19 years.
;Habitat
text x_hab= Cheetahs once lived across most of Africa and through quite a lot of the Middle East. Today, there may still be cheetahs in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmen. In Africa, cheetahs live in the part of the continent below the Sahara desert. Cheetahs are pretty adaptable, and can live in near-desert areas, in grasslands and savannahs (grasslands with scattered trees), and even in thick bush.~\
In most of the cheetah's range, days can be very hot. At night, the temperature drops, and many animals are more active in the cooler hours. But the cheetah races through the hottest part of the day - why? By being active in hot hours, the cheetah can take advantage of the time when most other animals are at their slowest and sleepiest. As a sprinter, the cheetah heats up - but then has a chance to cool down in whatever shade it can find. The cheetah's eyes aren't adapted to night vision - it is definitely a daylight (or diurnal) animal, and it makes the most of it! ~\
For the cheetah, as for all of the animals of central Africa, the biggest problem is living through the dry season. When there is little water to be found, the herds of gazelles and impalas migrate, moving to a different area where they can hope to find streams and lakes. So the cheetah has it doubly hard - not only is water scarce, but its main food supply just wandered off in search of a drink. Often, the dry, hot summers are very difficult for the cheetah and it's not until the herds return with the rains and the fresh, new grasses that the cheetah can be assured it knows where to find its next meal.
;Food
text x_eat= Cheetahs are carnivores (meat eaters) and they have a preference for some of the fastest grazing animals. There are hundreds of kinds of antelopes in Africa. Some, like the giant eland, are just too big for a cheetah to knock over in a speeding rush. Anything that isn't too big is considered fair game by the cheetah. Two favourites seem to be the gazelle and the impala - among the speediest. Very few can catch these quick, graceful animals. About the only thing that's faster is the cheetah itself. ~\
Cheetahs haven't got any stamina - they can only run for about 500 yards before they loose their strength. So if a gazelle or impala gets a good head start, the chances are good the cheetah will go hungry. Usually, the only way for the cheetah to win is to creep up to within about a hundred yards and then dart out. But the cheetah often springs too soon. More often than not, the cheetah misses its mark. It seems that the cheetah works harder than most cats, despite the fact that it is the fastest land animal. So it also hunts and eats smaller animals, like hares and birds. ~\
Do you wonder why the cheetah is the fastest animal on land? Why not in the world? It's true that there aren't many animals that can move 70 miles an hour, even for just a few seconds. But there is one group of animals that can really pour on some speed - birds of prey. A bald eagle, for example, comes speeding out of the sky to dive at a rabbit on the ground at more than 100 miles an hour. But in defence of the cheetah's record, that's little more than a controlled fall. On land, absolutely nothing without a mechanical engine can move faster than the "fast cat."
;Habits and Characteristics
text x_life= Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land. For very short bursts, they can sprint up to 70 miles an hour - faster than a car is allowed to go on the road! From nose to tail, they're designed to be fast. A cheetah has wide nostrils, so it can pull in plenty of air while it's running. Its lungs and heart are bigger than other cats its size, so the cheetah can use all that oxygen. The cheetah's spine is especially flexible. When it gathers its back legs under the body with each running stride, it's like coiling up a spring. When the cheetah leaps, the spine uncoils - boiing! The cheetah's legs are long and well muscled, and the tough claws grab onto the ground for a firm grip. And the long, flexible tail? When the cheetah is really moving, it uses the tail like a rudder, flicking it left and right to help make sharp, quick turns. .~\
With that much power and speed, you'd think that nothing could escape a cheetah. But the cheetah is only good for quick dashes - it tires very easily. There's no room on that streamlined body for big, endurance-style muscles. So if its prey can stay away for just a little while, the cheetah will give up and try to find a slower meal. The cheetah finds its "dinner," creeps to within about a hundred yards, and coils up - then, zoom! It's off! If the "dinner" is quick enough, it can wear the cheetah out - cheetahs are only good for about 500 yards. And the prey the cheetah often chooses are gazelles and impalas, among the fastest animals on the African plains. Sometimes, a cheetah will try many times without catching anything - sometimes the hunt is successful with the very first effort. When the cheetah does catch something, it doesn't go for anything fancy - it just runs into the victim with all the speed in its bullet-fast body and knocks it off its feet. .~\
Cheetahs aren't very social, although they don't mind sharing their neighbourhood with other cheetahs. If two or more females find they are living in each other's hunting range, they won't try to drive each other away - instead, they'll just pretend the other doesn't exist. Females are particularly anti-social. An adult female cheetah won't stand to be near any cheetahs that aren't her own cubs. Males, on the other hand, sometimes prefer a little company. Male litter mates may stay together past the time their sisters have ventured out on their own. Unrelated males sometimes join together in small groups, and they often chase lone males away from what they come to regard as "their" territory. Cheetahs are a bit unusual in the cat world, because the females generally have a bigger range than the males do - female cheetahs can need up to five times more space than males need. .~\
Of course, the solitary female cheetah has to do all the work of bringing up her hungry litter of cubs - even if the father chose to stay around (which he doesn't), she would chase him away. And since Mum generally has between three and five cubs every other year, she needs a big
