Cheetah (Acinonyx)
Despite its catlike appearance, the cheetah merits a special place among the Felidae. Two anatomical differences set the cheetah apart from what we might call the true cats: a very high skull and claws that are only slightly retractile.
An inhabitant of central Africa and India, the cheetah often reaches a length of seven feet. It has a rather deep body, long tail and yellowish-brown fur that is thickly sprinkled with black spots. How-ever, the arrangement of the spots is different from that on the jaguar or leopard. The cheetah’s spots are separate, distinct and round, while the spots of the leopard are grouped in rosettes, and those of the jaguarare ringed. Cheetahs are sight hunters, and they have dark spots or shadows under the eyes which help reduce the glare from the sun when the animal is hunting on deserts and plains.
The beauty of the cheetah, along with its great speed and tractability,have made this catlike creature a popular pet and working animal since ancient times. Some cheetahs have been clocked at sixty miles an hour - so fast that they can run down a black buck, an exceptionally fast antelope.
Young cheetahs are frequently trained to hunt alongside their owners or keepers. Usually, the training period ranges from four to six months. Hand-raised cheetahs are docile and quite manageable. When taken out to hunt, the animals are hooded in much the same fashion as a hunting falcon. Once the prey is sighted, the hood is removed and the cheetah released. The cheetah turns on a burst of speed and simply outruns its prey, knocking it down with a blow from a powerful pawand then sinking its teeth into the victim.