Cheetahs in East Africa : The East African cheetah is found in grassland, acacia bushlands and savannah vegetations across the region mostly in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Some of the popular parks with the cheetahs in Uganda include but are not limited to Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Serengeti National Park, Kidepo National Park, Tsavo national park, Kafue National Park and Meru national park among the many other parks
The cheetahs are scientific known as Acinonyx jubatus and they are considered to be the smallest and yet the fastest big cats. These mammals weigh between 36-64 kg for both the females and the males. And both sexes run at a speed of about up to 70 mph roughly 113 km per hour. On top of being the fastest cats, they are the fastest land animal in the wild. When running the cheetahs use the “double-suspension gallop” kind of running technique and they also take advantage of their claws that are non-retractable for traction. They downside of the cheetah’s speed is that they will need to take pauses after they go at high speed; meaning they can only maintain very high speeds for short intervals. But nonetheless the fast running is the best weapon for the cheetahs against their predators and their advantage as they hunt their prey.
They are diurnal animals so they will be active during the day, mostly hunting for food or hunting their prey. The cheetahs are carnivores and feed on mainly small sized animals sometimes medium sized animals like the impalas, antelopes, elands, topis and others. When hunting their stealth will be their strongest weapon and the speed added advantage. And usually, the cheetahs get lucky while hunting 50-60% on a daily. And on very good days these cheetahs may actually catch the big cats like the lions and hyenas.
The cheetahs have unique features on their face and body including tear like marks on the face, a line usually referred to as a tear line that runs from the eye to the mouth. Then it has a yellow-brown coat color running from eye to sometimes its gray-brown colored in some species. The cheetah’s legs are built to run, they are long hence they cover quite a reasonable amount of ground as they run and they are slender so they are light weight. These animals also take advantage of their tails to balance as they run and they can jump high up to 1.8 meter. This with the distinct front gait with the back legs too. The other thing that supports the cheetah’s speed they can survive without water for over 12 hours so they won’t stop for water. They drink water using their front paws scooping the water into their mouths.
With all their speed these cheetahs can only survive in the wild for only 10 to 12 years and after that they are surviving on a thread, eventually they die of natural causes or eaten by preys. For this reason, the chetah’s population in the wild keeps reducing and hence they are listed as vulnerable animals on the IUCN Red List.
Also, the other reason they are considered vulnerable is because of the threat on their habitat form human life activities and the humans constantly poaching these animals for rituals and meat.
To escape for humans who are their main prey the cheetahs use specific communications that are systematic vocalizations and body language gestures to garner for support from others, given cheetahs are solitary animals that come together only to mate and when in danger.
On the topic of mating the females will carry a cub for about 90 to 100 days and give birth to 2 or more cubs at once usually the highest number is 8. Cheetah cubs have a very high death rate that’s why they have a thick fur coat when they are born to be warmed and protected until they are weaned after about 2 months. and are weaned after 6-8 weeks