Report On Cheetas Essay, Research Paper
Cheetahs are fast cats that can reach to speeds up to 70 mph for 700 meters. Cheetahs are strong animals that are part of the cat family (Acinonyx). Their structure consists of lightboned, swayback, long, thin legs with small blunt unsheathed paws, and a short neck. Cheetahs have a pretty small head with short broad ears, small teeth and a face that is round that is foreshortened. A cheetah can reach up to five feet and the amazing tale alone can reach over two feet long. This bored out beast stands over three feet from the shoulder, and weights one hundred and forty pounds. Their eye grabbing coat is brushed with a tawny under coat that has black spots over it, white under parts, black ears. The lips & nose have distinctive tear stains and their tail consists of evenly marked black and white rings. Young cheetahs have a much more silky coat with faint black spots. The young cheetah has mostly a gray cape with some long hair in the under parts and down the back.. Eating Habits Cheetahs mainly eat small hoofed animals like Cheefly Axis deer and Black Buck in India and thomsons & gazeles in Africa. When there is no large prey available, cheetahs will catch rabbits, ostriches and game birds such as guinea fowl to survive. Cheetahs mainly go for the small and weak animals but when they hungry they will attack zebras and wildebeest. Cheetahs do not wait for their prey like other animals. Instead when they are close enough they will chase it for a short distance and if not successful they will search some more. If they do grab a hold of their prey they will strangely knock it to the ground and grasp hold of the throat strangling it. More often cheetahs will frighten their prey and come in for the attack. Geography Cheetahs are found in East Africa and in the area of East India. Cheetahs today have been mostly found in Tanzania, Sudan, (Africa), Lucknow, and Jameshedpen (India). Mainly cheetahs live in a still wide spread in sub Saharan savannas and arid areas. Cheetahs need bushes tall grass and other cover to hide them from prey and predators in these areas. Cheetahs are specialized to prey upon gazelles especially in Africa. The cheetahs’ habitat is made up of sparsely vegetated, sub desert, and steppe. They are most likely to survive in flat grassy plain lands such as Lucknow, Jamshedper(India), Sudan, Tanzania (Africa), and your local zoo.
Reproduction Cheetahs can have up to 3 to 4 cubs per litter. Cheetahs are usually pregnant up to 90 days then they pop. After the 90 days of killer pregnancy the conception of the mother is around 21 months and 18 months between pregnancies. The first year of these cubs surviving is 50/50. Mother cheetahs will walk 2-3 miles a day compared to the father in which he will walk 4 miles a day. Cheetahs are the last to breed successfully especially in zoos. In 1966 a litter of two in both months of January and December were successful in a zoo in Rome. Cheetahs have a hard time surviving because of man poaching them. The population of cheetahs’ is now on a come back with special reproductive programs. Cheetahs main predator in captivity is the lion and has a 10% less chance of surviving. Other predators and large eagles will spring off with their young and wont leave any chance to recover them. Cheetahs are thought to have gone through a genetic bottleneck in which leaving the females prone to disease because of too much inbreeding. Unusual Behavior Cheetahs make a type of chirping and or yelping noise that can be heard over a mile at a high intensity. Mother cheetahs make a high pitched growling sound that is far less audible than the chirping to identify, and finds their cub s. Cheetahs also make a bleating sound when distressed or when a mother has lost her cub(s). When other predators are around cheetahs will make an annoying growling noise that draws away most predators. Cheetahs have unsheathed paws which means the cannot retract their claws. This leaves cheetahs with no ability to climb trees or grasp their prey.