Cheetah

Cheetah Temporal range: Pleistocene–Present
Male cheetah, in South Africa
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	Felinae
Genus:	Acinonyx
Species:	A. jubatus
Binomial name
Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775)
Subspecies
List Southeast African cheetah (A. j. jubatus) (Schreber, 1775) Asiatic cheetah (A. j. venaticus) (Griffith, 1821) Northeast African cheetah (A. j. soemmeringii) (Fitzinger, 1855) Northwest African cheetah (A. j. hecki) (Hilzheimer, 1913)
The range of the cheetah as of 2015[1]
Synonyms[2]
List Acinonyx venator Brookes, 1828 A. guepard Hilzheimer, 1913 A. rex Pocock, 1927 A. wagneri Hilzheimer, 1913 Cynaelurus guttatus Mivart, 1900 Cynaelurus jubata Mivart, 1900 Cynaelurus lanea Heuglin, 1861 Cynailurus jubatus Wagler, 1830 Cynailurus soemmeringii Fitzinger, 1855 Cynofelis guttata Lesson, 1842 Cynofelis jubata Lesson, 1842 Felis fearonii Smith, 1834 F. fearonis Fitzinger, 1855 F. megabalica Heuglin, 1863 F. megaballa Heuglin, 1868 Guepar jubatus Boitard, 1842 Gueparda guttata Gray, 1867 Guepardus guttata Duvernoy, 1834 Guepardus jubatus Duvernoy, 1834

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and black tear-like facial streaks. It reaches 67–94 cm (26–37 in) at the shoulder, and the head-and-body length is between 1.1 and 1.5 m (3 ft 7 in and 4 ft 11 in). Adults weigh between 21 and 72 kg (46 and 159 lb). The cheetah is capable of running at 93 to 104 km/h (58 to 65 mph); it has evolved specialized adaptations for speed, including a light build, long thin legs and a long tail.

The cheetah was first described in the late 18th century. Four subspecies are recognised today that are native to Africa and central Iran. An African subspecies was introduced to India in 2022. It is now distributed mainly in small, fragmented populations in northwestern, eastern and southern Africa and central Iran. It lives in a variety of habitats such as savannahs in the Serengeti, arid mountain ranges in the Sahara, and hilly desert terrain.

The cheetah lives in three main social groups: females and their cubs, male "coalitions", and solitary males. While females lead a nomadic life searching for prey in large home ranges, males are more sedentary and instead establish much smaller territories in areas with plentiful prey and access to females. The cheetah is active during the day, with peaks during dawn and dusk. It feeds on small- to medium-sized prey, mostly weighing under 40 kg (88 lb), and prefers medium-sized ungulates such as impala, springbok and Thomson's gazelles. The cheetah typically stalks its prey within 60–100 m (200–330 ft) before charging towards it, trips it during the chase and bites its throat to suffocate it to death. It breeds throughout the year. After a gestation of nearly three months, females give birth to a litter of three or four cubs. Cheetah cubs are highly vulnerable to predation by other large carnivores. They are weaned at around four months and are independent by around 20 months of age.

The cheetah is threatened by habitat loss, conflict with humans, poaching and high susceptibility to diseases. The global cheetah population was estimated in 2021 at 6,517; it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It has been widely depicted in art, literature, advertising, and animation. It was tamed in ancient Egypt and trained for hunting ungulates in the Arabian Peninsula and India. It has been kept in zoos since the early 19th century.