Cheetahs By Blake

The cheetah is by far the fastest land animal with a top speed of 121 km. The cheetah can hold this for 30 seconds then it has to stop.

The cheetah, unlike most cats, has non-retractable claws that act like spike shoes. The cheetah is literally build for speed from the inside out. First the cheetah's aerodynamic face with wind pushing smooth past it and big nostrils and lungs to hold lots of air.  Their bendy spine stretches out about 1 or more meters absorbing the landing shock. The cheetahs bones are light and durable meaning the cheetahs legs can move light and fast. A big heart means it can breath smoothly. Finally it's big light tail. The cheetah's tail is one of the most important parts. The tail is used for sharp turns. So the cheetah can literally turn in mid air and keeps it's balance when chasing pray.

Cheetahs can be found in South Africa. Their habitat is on small mounds of dirt surrounded by tall, dry grass. The cheetah has a perfect camouflage coat which lets them sneak up really close to their pray.  The cheetahs diet is buffalo, wildebeest, gazelle, springbok, zebra, tiger cub and almost any animal it can catch.

Cheetahs can live about 10-15 years on the wild and 20 years in captivity.

Cheetahs can be killed by packs of lions, hyenas, falcon birds or people.

Cheetahs are my favourite animal but lots of cheetahs are dying. There are only around 20,000 cheetahs remaining. So we need to help them survive.