Nought to 70 in two and a half seconds, a top speed of 100 kph plus, 7 meters per stride. Impact. Choke hold. Suffocation. Consumption. No time wasted. The chase occurs over a maximum of about 200 meters and has a success rate of about 50%. The Cheetah is the obvious choice as the falconer’s cat and has been tamed and used for hunting for perhaps 5000 years, probably in ancient Sumer, certainly in early Egypt.
Today the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is confined to Africa plus a small isolated population in Iran. It was once far more widely distributed disappearing from North America at the end of the last ice age. Then dwindling in Asia in the last few centuries. There appears to have been a couple of population bottlenecks along the way indicated by a very high level of homozygosity.
Males tend to live territorial lives in small coalitions usually of brothers. Females roam more widely on their own or with their youngsters. Males and females come together only to mate.
Hunting usually takes place in the morning or evening. Loss of their kill to other predators is common. They usually eat immediately, don’t return to a carcass and don’t scavenge.
bobmcgee 