A cheetah is a slender, long-legged cat. It catches prey with fast sprints over short distances.
Cheetah cubs have a long mantle of fur that disappears as they grow.
Young cheetahs have a long mantle of fur that disappears as they mature. Siblings may stay together after leaving their mother, and males can form coalitions. Collars and cameras have also recorded companions separating and finding one another again.
In a male cheetah coalition tracked in Botswana’s Ghanzi region from July 2014 to January 2015, one of three collared animals separated from the other two for 31 days before reuniting. Cameras also recorded an uncollared fourth member. The separated animal crossed the others’ path within 2.4 hours; reunion followed 9.5 hours later.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Habitat loss and conflict over livestock threaten cheetahs. Field conservation and coordinated zoo breeding programs are among the responses.