Fun fact #20
Today's blog is about one of the fastest animal of the world...the Cheetahs.
Name: Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Conservation Status: Extremely vulnerable.
Lifespan: 10-12 years. However, the males have shorter lifespan, up to 8 years.
What do they eat: They eat large animals like deer or antelope and the young of larger animals.
Where are they found: They are mostly found in Africa (shrublands, grasslands, savannahs, and temperate to hot deserts) Small groups of cheetahs are also found in Iran.
Group Name: A group of cheetahs is called a "coalition".
Number of species: There are 5 sub-species.
Fun Facts: - Cheetahs do not roar! Since, they are from the cat family, they meow and purr.
- They can go to 0 to 97 Kilometer per hour (km/hr) in 3 seconds. Their average speed is 8 to 130 Km/hr.
- Those black tear lines on either side of a cheetah’s nose function like a football player’s black face paint, keeping the sun out of the big cat’s eyes while they hunt.
- A cheetah’s claws don’t retract when they run. Instead, they act like cleats to help the cheetah reach its top speeds.
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Sadly these amazing animals are racing towards their extinction. Their population is steady decreasing.
Major threats are humans off course. We hunt their food like gazelles and dears and decrease their food source, we take part in illegal exotic-pet trade, we poach them for their skin and sell their parts as well.
Other threats are habitat loss, lions and eagles.
Question of day: How are you doing?
Stay tuned for more Into Our Wild blogs and Try to make a difference in the world. -Kara