cheetah

Large wild cat Acinonyx jubatus native to Africa, Arabia, and southwestern Asia, but now rare in some areas. Yellowish with black spots, it has a slim lithe build. It is up to 1 m/3 ft tall at the shoulder, and up to 1.5 m/5 ft long. It can reach 103 kph/64 mph, but tires after about 400 yards. Cheetahs live in open country where they hunt small antelopes, hares, and birds.

A cheetah's claws do not retract as fully as in most cats. It is the world's fastest mammal. Cheetahs face threats both from ranchers who shoot them as vermin and from general habitat destruction that is reducing the prey on which they feed, especially gazelles. As a result the wild population is thought to have fallen by over half since the 1970s; there are now thought to be no more than 5,000-12,000 left.

The accepted figure for cheetah maximum speed (114 kph/71 mph) was discredited by scientists 1997. The more accurate speed of 103 kph/64 mph still makes the cheetah the fastest land animal.