Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00 Cheetahs. You probably already know they're the world's fastest land animal.
00:05 They can go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds,
00:08 covering the length of an Asian elephant with each stride.
00:12 But here are 5 things you probably didn't know
00:16 about cheetahs. Cheetahs are one of the few big cats that can't roar.
00:23 Instead, these carnivores purr, much like a house cat.
00:27 Also, they chirp loudly enough to be heard a mile away.
00:34 These chirps vary from cheetah to cheetah. One theory is that this may allow them to
00:46 identify each other.
00:47 Cheetahs are the only big cat that can't fully retract their claws.
00:52 A synonyms to Jubedus
00:56 is a cheetah's scientific name. A synonyms means
01:00 "no-move claw" in Greek. Their claws are actually more similar to a dog's
01:05 than to those of other cats, helping cheetahs maintain traction
01:09 and gain speed while running. Their muscular tail,
01:13 which can be over two and a half feet long, helps cheetahs when they're hunting prey.
01:18 The tail acts like a rudder, allowing cheetahs to quickly change direction
01:22 while running.
01:23 It provides counterbalance as they zigzag across grasslands during a chase.
01:30 Unlike other big cats, cheetahs hunt primarily by day,
01:36 relying on their exceptionally keen eyesight. Dark tear marks below cheetahs'
01:42 eyes may help reduce glare from the sun, much like the
01:45 eye black that some professional athletes wear. Without the cover of darkness,
01:50 cheetahs camouflage themselves in the tall grass of the savanna,
01:54 typically getting as close as a football field's width away from their prey
01:58 before making the chase.
02:05 While most cheetahs live in Africa, a subspecies of the big cat
02:11 lives in central Iran. These Asiatic cheetahs are genetically distinct from
02:16 their African counterparts.
02:18 Unfortunately, they're critically endangered, with only an estimated
02:23 50 individuals remaining. The cheetah population has declined from an
02:28 estimated 100,000 in the early 1900s
02:32 to around 7,000 today, according to recent estimates.
02:35 Cheetahs are under threat from humans.
02:39 Poaching, habitat loss, and vehicle collisions have contributed to their
02:43 decline.
02:44 Plus, humans hunt antelopes, warthogs, and other prey species
02:49 that cheetahs rely on. In Namibia,
02:53 farmers sometimes shoot cheetahs in retaliation for livestock killings.
02:57 One successful conservation program involves placing livestock-guarding dogs
03:02 with farmers.
03:03 The dogs scare away these big cats,
03:07 which are built more for speed than fighting.
03:14 (music)
03:21 (music)