Cheetahs play football | Deadly 60 | BBC Earth Kids

Well, something really very special. Come on in. We'll be in search of cheetah in the wild later. But first, an encounter with two young orphans. These two were rescued as cubs when their mother died of disease, but are doing really well in captivity. We haven't got very well acquainted yet, so I'm just going to feel my way through this. I don't want to get too close, because one lash from those feet could give me quite a nasty wound. But the feet themselves are quite remarkable. They have non-retractable claws. So, you can see those there. On most cats, they'll draw them into the pads to protect them, to keep them sharp. But on a cheetah, they're always at least partially extended, and that helps with grip, it helps them for running. They also can use those claws, almost like he's doing now, just to bat at the legs of prey. So, if you have a small antelope, a gazelle, that's in full flow, and it gets its back leg hit by one of those, it'll just take it down and allow the cheetah to come in and finish it off. Absolutely beautiful. This one's about a year old, still got a little bit of growing to do, but they still have that remarkable cheetah pace. And the best way I've got of showing you that is using this. Right, let's play a bit of cheetah football. Oh, crumbs. OK, I'm not going to have this in my hand then. The cheetah barely needs an introduction. It's a living Lamborghini, the sultan of speed. No other predator has a frame so well adapted to sprinting supremacy. Their long limbs and flexible spine give them stride length, their small head and thin profile cut down on wind resistance. Top speed, three strides. It's pretty impressive, isn't it? The claws are always extended, curved and sharp enough to tear through fur and skin. Certainly not a good idea to get too close. Got it. Nearly took my ankle out. I think I'm going to let him have the football.