FEMALE CHEETAH

Unlike males and other felines, females do not establish territories. Instead, the area they live in is termed a home range. These overlap with other females' home ranges, often those of their daughters, mothers, or sisters. Females always hunt alone, although cubs will accompany their mothers to learn to hunt once they reach the age of five to six weeks.

The size of a home range depends entirely on the availability of prey. Cheetahs in southern African woodlands have ranges as small as 34 km2(13 sq mi), while in some parts of Namibia they can reach 1,500 km2 (580 sq mi).

MALE CHEETAH

Males are often social and may group together for life, usually with their brothers in the same litter; although if a cub is the only male in the litter then two or three lone males may form a group, or a lone male may join an existing group. These groups are called coalitions. In one Serengeti, 41% of the adult males were solitary, 40% lived in pairs and 19% lived in trios.

A coalition is six times more likely to obtain an animal territory than a lone male, although studies have shown that coalitions keep their territories just as long as lone males— between four to four and a half years.

Males are territorial. Females' home ranges can be very large and a territory including several females' ranges is impossible to defend. Instead, males choose the points at which several of the females' home ranges overlap, creating a much smaller space, which can be properly defended against intruders while maximizing the chance of reproduction. Coalitions will try their best to maintain territories to find females with whom they will mate. The size of the territory also depends on the available resources; depending on the part of Africa, the size of a male's territory can vary greatly from 37 to 160 km2 (14 to 62 sq mi).

Males mark their territory by urinating on objects that stand out, such as trees, logs, or termite mounds. When male cheetahs urine-mark their territories, they stand one meter away from a tree or rock surface with the tail raised, pointing the penis either horizontally backward or 60° upward. The whole coalition contributes to the scent.[further explanation needed] Males will attempt to kill any intruders, and fights result in serious injury or death.

VIDEOS ABOUT CHEETAH

CHEETAH CAN BE PET

These incredible pictures reveal a couple sharing their family home with a pet cheetah.

Big cat Jolie is named after film star Angelina, and the cheetah is certainly used to the A-list treatment at Magda and Japie Pienaar's family home, where it can often be found eating from the kitchen table, snoozing on the sofa, or even curled up on the couple's bed.

The big cat also eats, sleeps and plays with the Pienaars' other, rather more conventional pet; a German Shepherd called Franky.

ADAPTATIONS

Able to reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour while chasing their

prey, cheetahs are the fastest land animals on earth. In fact, cheetahs are remarkably adapted for speed. Their small heads are filled with deep sinus cavities to ensure maximum oxygen intake. A deep chest containing a large, powerful heart and lungs ensures oxygen reaches all parts of the cheetah’s body during the chase. Long legs, non-retractable claws (unusual in the cat family), and tough paw pads give the cheetah quick acceleration and agility in fast turns. Even the cheetah’s long tail is perfectly adapted for speed – its length and weight act as a counter-balance when the cheetah is running, ensuring the cheetah doesn’t tumble and fall or lose balance while chasing nimble prey (such as gazelles) while at top speed.

HUNTING

While cheetahs are equipped for speed, they cannot maintain their top speed for more than a few hundred meters, so they rely stalking as close as possible to their prey before beginning the chase. Cheetahs typically prey on small to mid-sized gazelles and antelope, but also hunt ground-dwelling birds and small mammals.

Unlike many other predators, cheetahs do not scavenge and their relatively light build means they are often chased away from their own kills by other predators such as leopards. Because of their reliance on sight and speed to hunt, cheetahs primarily are active during the day, unlike most other predators in their habitats.

LIFE CYCLE

Cheetah and cubs 

Female cheetahs become sexually mature between 20 and 24-months-old. Their gestation period is 90 to 95 days, after which she will give birth to a litter of up to six cubs. At birth, cheetah cubs weigh between nine and 15 ounces and are blind and helpless. However, by four to 10 days of age, the cubs can see and move around their nesting area and by three weeks of age, they will have their teeth. To keep her cubs safe from predators, a female cheetah will move her cubs from den to den every few days.

As a solitary hunter, a female cheetah must leave her cubs alone for most of the day during the cubs first six weeks of life. This results in a high cub mortality rate (up to 90%). At six weeks of age, cheetah cubs will begin to follow their mother as she hunts for prey; the cubs will also start to eat meat at this age. Cheetah cubs grow rapidly, reaching half of their adult size at six months old. At eight months old, they begin to practice hunting and stalking prey, mostly through play with each other and with prey that is too big for them to catch.

The average lifespan of cheetahs in captivity is 8-12 years; studies on cheetah’s longevity in the wild have not yet been conducted.