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The entries for the more famous cats are going to be longer, because a great deal of information is available.
Cheetah (
Acinonyx jubatus)
(information taken from
www.cheetahspot.com)
While most cats are nocturnal predators, the cheetah is primarily diurnal, hunting in early morning and late afternoon. Since it depends on sight rather than smell, it likes to scan the countryside from a tree limb or the top of a termite mound. Other big cats chase only a few hundred meters: the cheetah chases 3.4 miles (5500 meters) at an average speed of 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour). Its famous fast speed is helped by its greyhound-like body, light bones, large liver, heart, and adrenals. If it succeeds in catching an animal the cheetah will suffocate it by clamping the animal's windpipe, sometimes as long as 5 minutes. Very small animals like hares are killed by a simple bite through the skull. But whatever the meal - large or small - cheetah eats quickly for if challenged it will most often lose. Cheetahs have unusually clean eating habits: they do not return to their kill nor do they eat carrion; they leave the skin, bones and entrails of their prey. At 6 weeks the young are strong enough to follow the hunt and when they are about 6 months old the mother will capture live prey for them to practice killing.
Two groups exist in wild populations: the family group and males. Males, often brothers, usually form a coalition of 2 or 3; only rarely will a male live alone. This coalition will live and hunt together for life claiming a range which may overlap several female territories. Young males seek out an area at a great distance from their parent; sometimes as far as 300 miles (482 kilometers). The average size of male territories is 37.4 square kilometers. The top speed, 71 miles per hour (114 kilometers per hour), can be maintained for only about 300 yards. Young females, however, usually occupy the same range as their mother although ALL females are solitary except when they have a litter. Males and females mix only to mate: a female raises her cubs alone. cheetah is carnivorous and eats a variety of small animals.
Vocalizations: Chirping: like a bird's chirp or a dog's yelp - an intense chirp that can be heard a mile away! )
• Churring: staccato growl, high-pitched
• Nyam-nyam: cubs' sound when feeding
• Ihn-ihn: mother's call to her young
• Purring: like a house cat
• Staccato purring: sound made by courting males
• Bleating: like a meow - a distress call
The African cheetah lives in Africa, whereas the Asian subspecies in found in a small range in the Middle East.
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