The world's fastest land animal, the cheetah is perfectly built for blistering speed. This graceful cat has a light body frame, small head, long legs and a super-springy spine that helps it whip its back legs forwards as it runs. The cheetah can reach a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour in just three seconds-that's faster than even the world's top sports cars. Because it is not built for strength like other big cats, the cheetah's speed is its main weapon-for hunting and defense.
No Slip Grip: The cheetah is the only cat with claws that don't fully retract into its paws. The short, blunt claws grip the ground like cleats to give the cat extra traction. The hard pads on its paws act like tire treads on a car and help the cheetah make hard, fast turns.
No Skidding: A cheetah's long, muscular tail keeps it balanced as it runs and prevents the cat from skidding or rolling as it makes hairpin turns during a chase.
Day Tripper[]
As a cheetah chases prey, only one of its feet touches the ground at a time.
Because the cheetah relies on sight and speed, it hunts during the day-unlike other big cats, which hunt mainly at night. When the cheetah gets within striking distance, it bursts into a full-out spring that usually lasts less than 30 seconds. It trips its prey with a swipe of its paw and then clamps its teeth onto the animal's neck to suffocate it. After that, the cheetah needs to eat fast. It's too small-and out of breath-to protect its meal against scavengers.
Cat Bird: Cheetahs can't roar like other big cats, but they do use a range of sounds to communicate. Cheetahs purr like a house cat and also make a chirping noise that sounds like the yelping of a small dog.
Stay or Go?: Male cheetahs stay within their own well-defined territory, either alone or with a brother or ally. Female cheetahs, however, are the only cats in the world that migrate seasonally to follow their prey. In fact, a cheetah with cubs may cover 500 square miles in search of food.
Training Day[]
A cheetah mother will sometimes work with her older cubs to take down larger prey, such as this impala. Female cheetahs usually hunt (and live) alone, but give up their solitary lifestyle to raise cubs. Once the cubs have learned to hunt, mom will walk off when they're distracted and never return.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The trading card has the Emerald Attack Power variation.
- The cheetah is mentioned on several other cards:
- The Saber-Toothed Tiger's knowledge card uses the cheetah as an example of modern big cats.
- The Striped Hyena's knowledge card mentions the hyena taking uneaten food from cheetahs.
- As mentioned in the Prey section on the cheetah's card, it is in turn mentioned as a predator on the impala's card.
- The cheetah is featured on several Monster Mania on several cards:
- It is first featured in On Your Mark... on Monster Mania 42.
- It is featured again in Record Setters on Monster Mania 61.
- It's trading card is featured in Battle of the Monsters Variations 75 on Monster Mania 75.
- It is once again featured in Savage Serengeti on Monster Mania 92.
- It is later featured in Animal All-Stars on Monster Mania 106.