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Today’s special animal friend is the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus. Our tour has moved along to Chobe National Park in Botswana. The oldest national park in Botswana, it is also the most biologically diverse. It is famous for a lion population that eats elephants. We’re going to try to avoid them while concentrating on the cheetah. But first, an overview of the park:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY8joJlz1pU

There are four subspecies of cheetahs. Here in southern Africa, we have A. jubatus jubatus, the “nominate subspecies,” of which there are over 4,000 individuals in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia. Northeast and Northwest African cheetahs number in the hundreds, while a population of fewer than 50 Asiatic cheetahs lives in Iran.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9-Nh7FzEU

The world’s fastest land animal – up to 65 mph for short distances – cheetahs are built like a greyhound, with long, thin legs, a small head, and a large chest. Their spines are unusually flexible, and their hip and shoulder joints extend further than most quadrupeds’. A large male can be about three feet high at the shoulder and weigh up to 150 lbs. (A leopard is a similar size, though differently proportioned, while lions are two to three times heavier.) Cheetahs’ claws retract only a little, unlike other cats’. This helps with traction when they accelerate and then stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGhTCPzMHvY

Cheetahs are active during the day when they share habitat with other large, feline predators. If they are the only big cat around, they are more likely to hunt at night, especially when there is bright moonlight. They usually eat smaller ungulates such as Dorcas gazelles, impala, and duiker, rarely pursuing prey weighing over 90 lbs. The cheetah usually bites a prey animal’s throat, holding on for up to 5 minutes to strangle the animal. Their hunting success is pretty good, over 40% for the smallest prey animals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlj4Jw8omIc

Cheetah society includes groups of male siblings called coalitions. These bros will stake out a territory as a group, defend it from other males, and sometimes hunt cooperatively. The coalitions do not have to be biological relatives. Orphaned males raised in captivity can be paired with a non-relative and released; the two will maintain the attachment for life.

Females are solitary except when living with their young cubs or, occasionally, an adult daughter. Their home ranges often overlap the territories of several groups of males. Female fertility seems to be correlated with exposure to males and their scent markings, and it is more common when prey and water are abundant. A female will mate with several males during estrus. Gestation is about three months, and up to 8, but usually 3 or 4, cubs are born.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfZ7Ekn56sU

Cheetahs are rated as Vulnerable by IUCN. They are legally protected throughout their range. They are threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting, and declining prey populations.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Good morning, everyone. Happy Thor's Day!

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