Picture By Piet Bakker - Pexels

Who is the fastest man alive? If you considered the comic books, you would answer either The Flash, Quick Silver or even Superman but in the real world, you will be thinking of Usain Bolt or any other athletes that you look up to. In the animal world, however, there is a species of a cat family which all of us knew was one of the fastest creatures in the world. Cheetah is one of the largest cats of the subfamily "Felinae" which can be found mostly in the East, North and South of Africa though some can be found in Iran. They are considered as "vulnerable" (threatened to extinction) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to illegal hunting, habitat loss and smuggling. In 2016, the number of this creature has been estimated at 7100 in the wilds. This animal possessed a slim body build, spotted coat, small head, broad chest and a few tear-like streaks on the face. It's the fastest animal alive on the planet which can run up to 100 km/h (approximately 60 mph) to chase its prey or to run from a potential predator (human for example). It is significantly taller than a cougar but shorter than a lion.

This predator is active mostly during the day, but some are seen to hunt at night though it's rare. The behaviour pattern between male and female cheetah is quite distinct; males usually marked their territory while female don't. Even though it seems like the male cheetah prefers solitary confinement by recognising their region, they are a highly sociable creature. It's like hanging around with the other male cheetah forming a team called coalitions. The female on the other hand love to live alone or be with their offspring within the area which they perceived as home. The male's established territory would ensure maximum access to females to reproduce. They mainly feed on gazelles and antelopes which can be found primarily in Africa. During the chase, the animal would be tripped down and bite at the neck region, suffocating it to certain death.

This creature can undergo a process which we called "induced ovulation" to reproduce.

Induced ovulation is the process in which the pre-ovulatory LH surge and therefore ovulation is induced by some component of coitus, e.g. receipt of genital stimulation.

Source

Picture By Tambako The Jaguar - Flickr

The gestation period would take about three months, producing up to five cubs, and it will start to wean at six months. These particular cubs have a higher mortality rate compare to another mammal especially for those which inhabits the Serengeti region. There are about four subspecies that have been identified and documented to reflect its classification and used by the assessors of IUCN's red list.

• Acinonyx jubatus jubatus (Souther African Cheetah)
• Acinonyx jubatus venaticus (Asiatic cheetah)
• Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii (Northeast Cheetah)
• Acinonyx jubatus hecki (Northwest African Cheetah)

Cheetahs are deemed unsuitable to be kept in captivity. They are presumed to have a high mortality rate due to a congenital disability, hypothermia, infectious diseases, stillbirth and cannibalism while in the cage. A study which is conducted in 2005 to investigate the effect of captivity towards cheetah's general health has found that wild cheetah appears healthier than the one which is being kept in the zoo. There are a few factors that have been pointed out which could contribute to the high mortality rate which includes stress due to restricted habitat, interaction with the public and liver diseases. They reproduced less in captivity which has the success rate of twenty percent of breeding compared to ninety-five percent in a wild cheetah.

How do preys escape from a cheetah

This topic is a tricky one. As it turns out, the success rate of a cheetah in a hunting trip would be dependent on their speed relative to the prey. Of course, they are generally, faster than any gazelles or antelopes out there but how quick they should be to successfully catch and kill their prey to bring back a sumptuous dinner? The answer is slightly faster, not excessively fast. A finding from research which identifies a few victims to this fast predator has concluded that, for preys to escape from the brink of death brought by this "god of death", they must know how to out-manoeuvred this predator. They can't compete with a cheetah in terms of speed (honestly nobody can), and if they started to run as fast as they can, that is a bad move. The best plan to stay alive would be to run slow and make a sharp turn at the very last moment; timing is everything.

Picture By Dr. Zoltan - Pixabay

A study conducted in the past has utilised a set of radio collars to measure the optimum speed, acceleration, deceleration and the capabilities for an animal to make a quick turn. It has been found that cheetahs are slightly faster than its predator (in this case an Impala), but at a lower speed, the prey can easily challenge cheetah's manoeuvrability and finally escape from its grasp. Every single victim has different patterns of escapability, so it's up to the predators to decide the kind of tactic they want to utilise in order to guarantee the hunting success. In another word, preys define the chase, not the predators.

If a predator is too eager to show off their speed, then, there is a higher chance for them to go back empty-handed.

References and further reading materials

• Helen Briggs (2018, January 24). BBC. How to escape from a lion or cheetah - the science. Retrieved March 2, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42792190
• Wikipedia. Cheetah. Retrieved March 2, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah
• Zooborns. A Cheetah and His Dog. Retrieved March 2, 2018, from http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2016/09/a-cheetah-and-his-dog.html