Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus): The Sprinting Cat That Wins on Turns
The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a slender, spotted African cat and the fastest land animal, measured at 93 km/h on wild hunts. About 6,500 adults remain, in roughly a tenth of their former range.
- Habitat
- Open savanna, grassland, dry woodland and semi-desert
- Size
- 34–64 kg; 112–142 cm body plus 66–84 cm tail
- Diet
- Gazelles, impala, springbok, young antelope, hares, game birds
- Range
- Mainly eastern and southern Africa; fewer than 30 in Iran
- Conservation
- Vulnerable (IUCN 2022); about 6,500 mature adults
- Top speed
- 93 km/h measured in the wild; 104 km/h timed over 201 m
Habitat & range
Cheetahs live in open and semi-open country: savanna, grassland, dry woodland, scrub and semi-desert, and even mountainous land and commercial farms in Namibia. They once ranged across most of Africa and through the Middle East and Central Asia to India. A 2017 global assessment found cheetahs in only about 9% of their historical range, with roughly 7,100 adults and adolescents left. Most live in eastern and southern Africa, especially Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana, with small, scattered populations in North, West and Central Africa. The Asiatic subspecies survives only in Iran, where 27 known individuals were counted in the wild in early 2026.
Diet & hunting
Unlike most cats, cheetahs hunt mostly by day, in the early morning and late afternoon, relying on sight more than smell. They scan for prey from termite mounds or small hills, creep to within about 90 m, then sprint. Typical prey are small antelope such as Thomson's gazelle, springbok, impala and duikers, the young of larger antelope, hares and game birds. A full sprint lasts only about 20 seconds. The cheetah knocks the prey off balance with a forepaw swipe, hooking it with the large, sharp dewclaw, then kills it with a suffocating bite to the throat. Its small teeth leave room for big nasal passages, so it can breathe hard while holding on. About half of all chases succeed, but the cheetah has to eat fast: lions and spotted hyenas often drive it off its kill.
Behavior & adaptations
In 2013, researchers fitted five wild cheetahs in Botswana with GPS and motion-sensor collars and recorded 367 runs. The fastest reached 25.9 m/s, about 93 km/h, but most hunts used only moderate speeds. What stood out were acceleration, braking and turning: some of the highest values ever measured for a land mammal. Earlier, in 1965, a hand-reared cheetah in Kenya was timed at 29 m/s, about 104 km/h, over a 201 m course with a running start. The build that makes this possible is light and narrow: long legs, a flexible spine that lengthens each stride, blunt semi-retractable claws that grip like running spikes, hard foot pads for traction, and a long tail used for balance in sharp turns. The black tear marks from the eyes to the mouth may cut glare during daytime hunts. Adult females live alone and raise their cubs by themselves. Males often stay with their brothers for life in small groups called coalitions. Cheetahs do not roar; they purr, chirp, growl and make a stuttering call.
Conservation
The IUCN lists the cheetah as Vulnerable, with about 6,500 mature individuals, and expects the population to keep falling. Most cheetahs live outside protected areas, where they lose their habitat and prey and are shot or trapped in conflicts with livestock farmers. They are also taken for the illegal pet trade. Cubs face the steepest odds. In a classic Serengeti study, only about 5% of cubs born were expected to reach independence, and lions caused most of the predation deaths. The Asiatic cheetah in Iran is Critically Endangered, with more than half of recorded deaths caused by road traffic. Since September 2022, African cheetahs have been released in India, starting at Kuno National Park; by mid-October 2026 India had 59, 40 of them born there.
Fun facts about Cheetah
- Every cheetah's spot pattern and tail rings are unique, so researchers can identify individuals in the field like fingerprints.
- King cheetahs, with big blotches and back stripes, are not a separate species: one recessive gene change (in the gene Taqpep) makes their spots merge.
- A cheetah's purr runs while it breathes in and out, and can go on for minutes.
- Cheetah cubs carry a long, smoky-grey mantle of fur on the back that may help hide them in dry grass.
- The speeds behind the record were measured in two very different ways: a stopwatch on one tame cheetah in 1965, and GPS collars on wild hunting cheetahs in 2013.
Cheetah vs African Lion
A lion overpowers a cheetah up close; the cheetah survives by avoiding lions and abandoning kills, not by fighting.
These two really do meet: cheetahs and lions share the same African savannas, and the lion is the cheetah's most dangerous neighbour. A lion is several times heavier and far stronger, and the cheetah's light build and small teeth are made for sprinting, not fighting. That is why cheetahs avoid lions instead of facing them. They keep watch from high ground, run rather than fight, and give up a kill to lions and hyenas instead of risking an injury that would stop them hunting. Lions also kill cheetah cubs: in a long Serengeti study, lions caused most of the predation deaths of cubs. In a straight fight, the lion wins. The cheetah's real defence is seeing the lion first and leaving.
Read more about African Lion.
Common questions about Cheetah
How fast can a cheetah really run?
About 93–104 km/h (58–64 mph), in short bursts. GPS collars on five wild cheetahs in Botswana recorded a top speed of 25.9 m/s (93 km/h) across 367 runs, though most hunts used moderate speeds (Wilson et al. 2013). In 1965 a hand-reared cheetah in Kenya was timed at 29 m/s (about 104 km/h) over 201 m with a running start, which he called the highest running speed reliably recorded for any animal (Sharp 1997).
Why can't cheetahs roar?
Cheetahs lack the throat anatomy of the roaring big cats. In lions, tigers and jaguars, part of the hyoid (the frame that supports the tongue and larynx) is an elastic ligament and the larynx sits low in the neck; in cheetahs, as in house cats, that part is bone and the larynx sits higher, which affects the sounds they can make (Weissengruber et al. 2002). Instead, cheetahs purr, chirp, growl and stutter, and their purr runs while breathing in and out (Smithsonian's National Zoo).
How can you tell a cheetah from a leopard?
Look at the spots and the face. A cheetah has solid round black spots and a black tear mark running from each eye to the corner of the mouth; a leopard is much heavier, with rosette-shaped spots and no tear marks (Smithsonian's National Zoo). The cheetah is also slimmer and longer-legged, with a small head, built for sprinting rather than climbing and wrestling prey.
How many cheetahs are left in the wild?
About 6,500 mature cheetahs, per the IUCN's 2022 assessment, which lists the species as Vulnerable and declining (IUCN Red List). A 2017 study counted about 7,100 adults and adolescents in only 9% of the species' historical range (Durant et al. 2017). The Asiatic cheetah survives only in Iran, where 27 known individuals were counted in the wild in early 2026 (Mongabay).
What is a king cheetah?
A normal cheetah with a rare coat pattern, not a separate species. In king cheetahs the spots merge into large blotches and stripes run down the back. It is caused by a recessive mutation in a single gene, Taqpep, so a cub needs two copies to show it (Kaelin et al. 2012). Wild king cheetahs have only been seen in a small area of sub-Saharan Africa.
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