Our Top 5 Cheetah Facts!

Posted by Connor Whelan on 20th Jan 2016

The Cheetah is one of our most asked after animals here at The Great Projects, and as the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary (home to Cheetahs) is currently on offer, we thought that now would be a good time to tell you all a little bit more about this amazing big cat! So without further ado, here is our list of our top 5 Cheetah facts!

1. How fast can a Cheetah run?

Everybody knows Cheetahs are quick, but do you know just how fast they really are? As the world's fastest land animal they can really move when they need to. They can go from 0 to their top speed of 113 kilometres per hour in just a few seconds. So essentially, if a Cheetah ever offers you a race…. don‘t take them up on it.

2. Where do Cheetahs live?

The large majority of the remaining Cheetah population is found in sub-Saharan Africa as well as some eastern and southern parks in the continent. Some can still be found in southern Algeria and northern Niger and Iran, but numbers of the cats in these countries are dwindling. Their preferred Cheetah habitat is dry, open grassland where they can pick up enough of their infamous speed to kill their prey.

3. How big is a Cheetah?

Cheetahs are the smallest of the big cat family. They only weigh 45-60 kilograms and can reach lengths of around 170cm to just over 2 meters. Whilst not being the biggest of the big cats, they are very tall and a Cheetah can reach heights of around 80cm!

4. Tell me something I don’t know about them.

Cheetahs are the only big cats which cannot roar. They can however purr, and usually do this when they are grooming or sitting near other Cheetahs.

5. Are Cheetahs endangered?

The Cheetah population has declined drastically in the past few decades. Hunting and habitat destruction have been the predominant reasons as to why this has happened. This has meant that their number have fallen as low as 10,000-15,000 from around 100,000 in 1900. This is an unsustainable fall and has caused the status of these animals to become endangered. Something needs to change and it needs to change now.

If you are interested in volunteering with the Cheetahs then you can find out more about the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary here, and take a look at our special offers too!

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