The fastest land animal: a lightweight, long-legged cat built for short sprints across open ground. Fewer than 7,000 adults are left in the wild.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?Can be
No wild cheetah is known to have killed a person, but captive cheetahs have mauled people.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hunts mainly by day, unusually for a big cat.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Tamed cheetahs were kept for hunting in ancient Egypt, Arabia and India, but the cheetah was never domesticated and isn’t a pet.
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inAfrica
HabitatGrassland, Scrub, Desert
ColoursGold, Black
SizeLarge
Length1.1–1.5 m plus tail
Height67–94 cm at the shoulder
Weight21–65 kg
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives alone
Lives for10–12 years
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Open savanna and dry grassland in eastern and southern Africa, a few pockets of the Sahara, and a tiny remnant population in Iran.
- What it eats
- Small and medium antelope such as impala, springbok and Thomson’s gazelle, plus hares and birds.
- Conservation
- Vulnerable (IUCN Red List)
Did you know
The only big cat that cannot roar — it chirps.
Its top speed is reliably measured at 93–104 km/h. A popular 114 km/h figure came from a faulty measurement.
Often confused with
- Leopard
A leopard is heavier and more muscular, with rosettes rather than solid spots, and has no black tear lines down its face.
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