Spot The Spot’s

            Cheetahs seem out of place on the African plains where most of them live. Unlike other cats, they hunt in full day-light and against a background of dry grass and scrub, their strongly spotted coats give them little camouflage.

            Rarely successful in stalking prey, cheetahs resort to an open approach that immediately puts such animals as small antelopes to flight. The cheetah’s weapon is its pace and rapid acceleration, which make it the fastest of all mammals. When it fixes on its quarry, usually the slowest of a herd, it tries to run it down in one furious burst of speed that may reach 110 km/h (68mph); Cheetah can accelerate from 0-60km/h in just 2-3 seconds faster that an Ferrari.

            The cheetah’s problem as a hunter is that it is no long distance runner. It turns on the speed for about 500m (550yd) at the very most, a considerable distance for any animal, but not far enough if a fleet-footed prey gets away to a good start. On average, a chase last about 20sec and sonly in two succeeds.

            No fossil remains of cheetahs have been found in Africa, suggesting that they were introduced there from Asia. Their name comes from a Hindi word CHITA, which means ‘spotted one’. Because of their speed, cheetahs were kept in captivity by Asian potentates and used for sport of coursing – running down wild animals.

            Cheetah’s rarely climb trees, and their blunt claws don’t retract like those of typical cats. In these respects, along with their preference for daytime activity, cheetahs have more in common with dogs than with other cats.