Cheetah

 

The Cheetah is a slim cat with muscular long legs.

They have a small, rounded head that is set on a long neck, a flexible spine, a deep chest, special pads on its feet for traction, and a long tail for balance.

It is also the only cat that cannot retract its claws, an adaptation to help maintain traction like a soccer player’s cleats.

It also bears distinctive black “tear tracks” running from the inside corner of each eye to the mouth that may serve as an anti-glare mechanism for daytime hunting.

They usually prey on small antelopes such as Thomson’s gazelles and impalas but also hunt small mammals and birds. It gets as close to the prey as possible; then in a burst of speed, it tries to outrun its quarry.

These big cats are the fastest of all land mammals. These cats can run as fast as 95 to 120 km/h (60-75 mph). Once the cat closes in, it knocks the prey to the ground with its paw and suffocates the animal with a bite to the neck.

Once it has made a kill, it eats quickly and keeps an eye out for scavengers–lions, leopards, hyenas, vultures, and jackals will steal from this timid predator. Unfortunately, the cat's speed can’t be maintained for more than a few hundred meters before the individual overheats and the majority of hunts result in failure. African Wildlife Foundation