The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. They can reach a top speed of around 120km/h (or up to 75 mph) and can reach speeds of 95mk/h (or 60 mph) in three seconds. They are extremely fast however they tire quickly and can only keep up their top speed for a few minutes before they are too tired to continue. Due to their speed, the average time it takes a cheetah to catch its prey is about 20 seconds and they can sprint a distance of up 5,500 meters. They normally stalk their prey until they are about 20 feet away.

Cheetahs are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day. They have poor night vision and will hunt predominantly in the early morning and late afternoon when there is light but low sun.

They use their sight rather than smell and will hide behind things like trees, bushes and termite mounds to scope out their prey without being detected. Once spotted they will use the tall grass of the savannah to silently approach their prey.

Cheetahs do not have large teeth like most big cats and this allows for more room in the skull for large nasal passages, which, along with a large heart and lungs, facilitate efficient air intake during the cheetah’s powerful sprints. For this reason they do not stand up against the likes of other predators such as Lions or Hyenas. They will often drag their prey into hiding when possible to protect it from scavengers, but will often lose it to larger predators.