Cheetahs: Know all about the fastest land animal

#The cheetah, species name Acinonyx jubatus, is the fastest land animal. It is estimated to run at 80 to 128 km/h in short bursts while chasing prey. The fastest recorded speed is 98 km/h

#Nature has built the cheetah for speed. It is light in build, has long thin legs and a long tail. Adults measure 1.1 to 1.5 metres head to body, and weigh between 21 to 72 kg.

#The name "cheetah" has origins in Hindustani and and Hindi. Which in turn comes from the Sanskrit Chitra-ya, or 'variegated'. It was often called the "hunting leopard" because they could be tamed and used for coursing.


#Cheetahs, a species 8.5 million years old once roamed widely throughout Asia and Africa in great numbers, today only around 7,000 remain, primarily in the African savannas.

#In Asia, they were found in India, the Middle East and Central Asia. Now they are only found, in very small numbers, in Iran.

India was once home to the Asiatic cheetah, but it was hunted in very large numbers. The last known cheetah was hunted to death in 1947, in Korea district in present day Chhattisgarh. In 1952, the animal was officially declared extinct.

#Cheetahs died out primarily because of habitat loss and also because they were hunted for their distinct spotted coat. The Asiatic cheetah is now found, in very small numbers, only in Iran.

#The cheetah is listed globally as "Vulnerable" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In North Africa and Asia, it is labelled "Critically Endangered".

#These are the reason they are so endangered: Dwindling natural habitat, loss of prey due to human hunting, the development of land for other purposes and climate change.

#India's Project Cheetah, starting with the transfer of eight cheetahs from Namibia to a national park in Madhya Pradesh, is the first intercontinental translocation of this beautiful feline.

#The cheetahs lives in three main social groups: females cubs, male "coalitions", and solitary . Among the cheetahs being brought to India, two are brothers who work as a "coalition". They are known to be adaptable animals.