Cheetahs belong to the cat family, and their scientific name is Acinonyx jubatus.Cheetahs are native to the regions of Africa and central Iran today. Sadly, cheetahs have become extinct in more than 13 countries and are declared ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List, which means that the species may become endangered if not preserved carefully.Currently, there are four cheetah subspecies, three of which can be found in Africa, while one species can be found in the hilly regions of Iran. The population of cheetahs in the wild worldwide in 2016 was only 7,100, which is a lot less than 100,000 cheetahs back in 1900.Cheetahs are known for being the fastest land animals averaging a speed of 50-80 mph (80.5-128.7 kph). The fastest recorded speed of a cheetah is even faster than the fastest human athlete, Usain Bolt.Cheetahs have a tawny to creamy white coat covered with evenly placed dark spots all over the body. These spots help them to camouflage between tall grass and bend with the shadows while hunting. One of the unique features of cheetahs is the distinctive tear-marked streak that runs across their face from their eyes to their mouth.They have a very agile body which has evolved to make it fit for reaching incredible speeds, with light bones and thick, padded paws to prevent tension in the muscles. They have very wide lungs, which allow them to breathe while running. But as cheetahs can reach high speeds in almost three strides, they do not have strong endurance and can tire themselves out within half a kilometer’s chase.Can cheetahs eat humans? Can cheetahs eat giraffes? What do baby cheetahs eat? What does an adult cheetah eat? Read on for some interesting facts about the fastest land animal. Afterward, also read about cheetah vs. jaguar and cheetah vs. leopard.Do cheetahs eat elephants?Cheetahs are obligate carnivores, and their main diet consists of small ungulates like impalas, gazelles, and warthogs. Cheetahs usually prey upon small to medium-sized animals and sometimes even birds, weighing approximately less than 88 lb (39.9 kg ).Cheetahs rarely eat elephants, as it is mostly unheard of. Even though cheetahs may be predatory animals, they’re much more timid and harmless than bigger cats like lions. Hence, they do not go after larger animals for hunting. Likewise, cheetahs do not eat elephants or hunt them for food, even if they are in groups of male cheetahs called a coalition. Although, there is an exception where cheetahs may eat the dead body of elephants if they have been starving and food resources are scarce.Do cheetahs eat eagles?Cheetahs prefer to go after other animals, which can provide them with sufficient amounts of meat, like antelopes like impala, gazelles, reedbuck, and nyala. Cheetahs eat meat which may also come from small animals like rabbits, porcupines, and even some birds, which usually live on the ground and cannot fly too far.Eagles are birds who fly high in the sky and catch their prey by diving to the ground. It would be challenging for cheetahs to catch eagles during their flight, or even when they are on the ground, as eagles have extremely sharp senses. Hence, it is hardly ever observed that cheetahs are eating an eagle, although it may happen if a starving cheetah comes across the dead body of an eagle. In most cases, it would be an eagle scavenging the dead body of a cheetah and rarely the other way round!What do cheetahs eat in the jungle?Cheetahs prefer to eat other wild animals in the wild, which can be found easily in their habitat. The top preferred list of animals that a cheetah hunts and eats includes small-sized ungulates and antelopes, especially gazelles and impalas, nyala, common reedbucks, springbok warthogs, and even young animals of wildebeest.Baby cheetah cubs eat meat caught by their mother female cheetah, starting at the age of three months. Before that, baby cheetahs depend entirely on their mother’s milk.Adult cheetahs, especially male cheetahs, usually hunt in packs called a coalition. On the other hand, female cheetahs live and hunt in a solitary lifestyle except when she has cubs. Male and female adult cheetahs generally do not cohabitate like some other animals do, and stay separately except when they mate. A female cheetah raises her cubs alone and hunts for them by herself as well.A cheetah hunts by stalking its prey for a long time and trying to get as close as possible to the unsuspecting prey without detection. Cheetahs try to reach within a distance of at least 198-231 ft (60 -70 m) from the prey and attack at full speed when the opportunity comes. Cheetahs tend to chase this prey and attack them from behind to make the trip during flight.When the prey falls, cheetahs immediately puncture their throat with their sharp teeth to suffocate their prey and kill them. Cheetahs then feast on their kill and can eat up to 22 lb (10 kg) of meat in one sitting, but only eat around 6.1 lb (2.8 kg) of meat on an average per day when there is ready access to food. Cheetahs generally hunt every two to five days, and not every day unless the female cheetah has to look after and feed a pack of cubs every day.What do cheetahs eat in their habitat?The habitats in which cheetahs can be found today include the wild savannahs of the Serengeti and mountain ranges of Sahara where the African cheetahs live, the mountainous terrains of Iran where the Asiatic cheetahs can be found.Generally, the leopards who live in a particular habitat depend on the food resources, which are other animals available to them in their area. Cheetahs do not need to kill every day, and they survive well by hunting every two to five days. Cheetahs have adapted to living with scarce water sources because of their habitat, and usually, cheetahs drink water every four to five days and can also survive for a longer time without it.In the southern regions of Africa, cheetahs are the most abundant in the country of Namibia, followed by Botswana. The South African cheetah preys on mostly antelopes, preferably nyala and springbok. The cheetahs who live in the northern regions of Africa, who are known as Saharan cheetah, appear a little different from their southern counterparts. Saharan cheetahs have a much whiter coat than South African cheetahs. These cheetahs prey on animals commonly found in the Saharan mountainous region, like rhim gazelle, dorcas gazelle, and dama gazelle. The Eastern parts of Africa, including Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya, are native to Tanzanian cheetahs. A Tanzanian cheetah can be found in the wilderness of the Serengeti and hunts mainly for the Thompson’s gazelle, which is the most preferred meat animal among the species of cheetahs.These cheetahs also tend to catch small animals or rodents occasionally. Female cheetahs who are pregnant or have to look after cubs and cannot wander far away tend to feed on smaller prey and young animals like young gazelles or wild dogs and wild cats, which are a lot easier to catch compared to adult animals. The probability of catching younger prey, especially in antelopes and wildebeest, is much higher than larger animals, which cheetahs generally tend to avoid anyway.What do cheetahs eat other than gazelles?Although gazelles may be the preferred species of antelopes by the cheetahs, they are not the only animal that the cheetahs eat. The eating habits of cheetahs greatly depend on the habitat in which they live and what is available to them.Most of the time, gazelles are the primary source of their food. As gazelles travel in groups of adults and young gazelles, it is easy to target and catch them. Also, the probability of catching the Thompson’s gazelle is the highest among all other animals, observed by several wildlife researchers and caretakers of cheetahs in the zoo.Apart from gazelles, cheetahs prefer to eat antelopes like nyala, common reedbuck, impala, chinkara, common duiker, and medium-sized ungulates like warthogs, deer fawn, and wild goats. Cheetahs are also known to prey on small animals like cape hares, rabbits, porcupines, and rodents. Cheetahs also occasionally catch land-dwelling birds and birds like guinea fowl, who sometimes prefer to run instead of fly but tend to avoid ostriches unless they are hunting in a group.The preference for prey generally differs from cheetah to cheetah, depending on their sex, age, taste, and number of cheetahs involved in the hunting process. A pregnant female cheetah or one who has recently given birth to cubs does not risk going after a big animal for prey and instead prefers to find smaller ones. A pack or a coalition of cheetahs may take on a bigger animal like wildebeest together and share the kill between themselves.It is to be noted that cheetahs do not eat humans at all. There are some cases where an aggressive cheetah has attacked a human, but it was not to eat humans. There are no records of cheetahs eating humans as food.The African predators who prey on leopards include big cats like lions and leopards and hyenas. These animals tend to prey on smaller cheetah cubs, which are easier to catch for these big cats. Sadly, even though a female cheetah can give birth to a pack of three to five cubs at a time, there is a tiny chance that each of them may survive mainly because of the predation they have to face.Do cheetahs eat ostriches?It is already stated that cheetahs hunt game birds from time to time in cases where they are hungry and have easy access or a chance to kill a bird.In many cases, cheetahs are known to prey on land-dwelling birds, who cannot take a flight to escape from the clutches of these cheetahs.Likewise, the ostrich is a land-dwelling bird. It does not fly when attacked and hence becomes easy prey to a group of cheetahs hunting for it. But ostriches are powerful birds and can hurt the cheetah during the chase; therefore, solitary cheetahs tend to avoid hunting down ostriches. The Tanzanian cheetahs are known for avoiding ostriches entirely unless they are starving.Do cheetahs eat owls?Unlike other animals who belong to the cat family, cheetahs are diurnal, meaning they are active during the daytime. Cheetahs depend greatly on their sight rather than their sense of smell. Their sharp sight enables them to track prey from long distances of several miles.As owls are nocturnal birds, they rest during the day. Cheetahs can occasionally hunt birds when accessible to them and if they are hungry. But when it comes to hunting owls, not much research has been done on this aspect. So, we can not say whether cheetahs eat owls or not, but they prey on game birds like guinea fowl and ostriches.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for what do cheetahs eat, then why not take a look at cat that looks like a cheetah, or do lions eat cheetahs?
Cheetahs belong to the cat family, and their scientific name is Acinonyx jubatus.
