Cheetah High Speed Gazelle Hunt

And here we go. In case you hadn't heard, cheetahs are fast. Like, really fast. Because they have to be. At two feet tall and roughly 100 pounds, they're not as big and robust as their big cat competition. But what they lack in size and brute strength, cheetahs make up for in speed. It can reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers an hour. That is about twice that of a greyhound dog. It's more than twice of the fastest human on Earth. Apologies to Usain Bolt. The world's fastest animal on land, how do cheetahs bolt the way they do? Compared to other land mammals of the same weight, a very large proportion of their body is made out of skeletal muscles. These are the muscles that drive the limbs and movement. They have very long muscle fibers and very strong muscle fibers that contract at very high rate. The mechanics of the cheetah's speedy ways are a sight to behold. See, their spine works as an extension of those hind legs. So as their legs move forward, their spine literally bends and recoils, driving those legs backwards. This then creates a lot of force at a very high velocity, accelerating the animal forward. Geez, nature's ground torpedo. But they can't keep it up for long. If she doesn't catch up to her meal within the first 1,000 feet of the chase, she'll completely run out of gas and go home empty-handed. A typical chase is about 200 meters, and a chase is typically over in 10 seconds. So in other words, they don't run very far because of the speed that they generate is very hard on the animal's respiratory physiology. When you're witnessing that feline blur, it's easy to forget they, too, need time to breathe. In order to then move that fast, you require lots of oxygen. So they have, then, physiological adaptations in addition to the muscular and skeletal adaptations, is that they have very large nasal passages to allow lots of air to go through their lungs. They have relatively large lungs, and they have very large heart that contracts at a very high rate. With all that blood pumping, it's important to remember speed isn't everything, because keep in mind, cheetahs typically dine on fast food. They focus on the smaller prey, but the very fast prey, which are the gazelles, Thompson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle. Now get this, 70% of a cheetah's targets manage to get away. Every inch counts here, so to lessen the gap, they must master the art of the sneak attack. Stalking their prey from the bushes and tall grass, they try to get within 164 feet or less, and then, bang. They can't outrun the cheetah, so they zigzag. And the cheetah, then, in order to catch the gazelle, has to also zigzag very rapidly. They have adaptations in their legs, so the foot pads on their feet are rigid. Their claws are permanently extended for gripping, so they can turn very rapidly. When the gazelle gets got, it's all over. The cheetah grabs it by the throat and strangles it till it takes its forever nap. And as it loses its breath, the cheetah's breathing goes back to normal. Big nostrils, remember? But being a fast hunter isn't enough to survive. They've also got to be quick eaters, because hungry bullies could waltz on by any minute. They gobble it up and try and get as much eaten as they can, because they know that they're going to lose their prey most likely, and they have to feed their young at the same time. Ah, the poor babies. Eventually, when they're big and strong, they'll be expected to team up with mom to fetch dinner. Don't grow up too fast, kiddos. After all, there's a whole life in the fast lane waiting for you.