Where do cheetahs and leopards live? Cheetah - an animal of the Red Book: description, photos, pictures, videos about the life of cheetahs
The Asian cheetah in ancient times was often called a hunting cheetah, and even went hunting with it. So, the Indian ruler Akbar had 9,000 trained cheetahs at his palace. Now there are no more than 4500 animals of this species all over the world.
Features of the Asian cheetah
On this moment asian view cheetah refers to rare species and listed in the Red Book. The territories where this predator is found are under special protection. However, even such environmental protection measures do not give the proper result - cases of poaching still occur to this day.
Despite the fact that the predator belongs to the cat family, there is little in common. In fact, the resemblance to a cat is only in the shape of the head and outline; in its structure and size, the predator is more like a dog. By the way, the Asian species of leopard is the only predator from cat family who does not know how to hide his claws. But this shape of the head helps the predator to keep the title of one of the fastest, because the speed of movement of the cheetah reaches 120 km/h.
The animal reaches a length of 140 centimeters, and a height of about 90. The average weight of a healthy individual is 50 kilograms. The color of the Asian cheetah is fiery red, with spots on the body. But, like most cats, the belly is still light. Separately, it should be said about the black stripes on the face of the animal - they perform the same functions as in humans, sunglasses. By the way, scientists have found that this type of animal has spatial and binocular vision, which helps it to hunt so effectively.
Females in appearance practically do not differ from males, except that they are slightly smaller in size and have a small mane. However, the latter is present in all non-borns. By about 2-2.5 months, it disappears. Unlike other cats, cheetahs of this species do not climb trees, as they cannot retract their claws.
Nutrition
The successful hunting of an animal is not only a merit of its strength and dexterity. In this case, the determining factor is acute vision. In second place is an acute sense of smell. The beast hunts for animals of about its size, since prey is not only for the hunter himself, but also for the offspring, as well as for the nursing mother. Most often, the cheetah catches gazelles, impalas, wildebeest calves. Somewhat less often he comes across hares.
A cheetah never sits in ambush, simply because it is not necessary. Due to the high speed of movement, the prey, even if it notices the danger, will not have time to escape - in most cases, the predator overtakes the prey in just two jumps.
True, after such a marathon, he needs to take a breath, and at this time he is a little vulnerable to other predators - a lion or leopard passing at this time can easily take away his lunch.
Reproduction and life cycle
Even conception here is not the same as in other feline representatives. The period of ovulation in the female begins only when the male runs after her for a long time. That is why the reproduction of a cheetah in captivity is almost impossible - it is impossible to recreate the same conditions on the territory of the zoo.
Bearing offspring lasts about three months. At one time, the female can give birth to about 6 kittens. They are born completely helpless, therefore, until the age of three months, the mother feeds them with milk. After this period, meat is introduced into the diet.
Unfortunately, not all babies live to the age of one. Some become prey to predators, while others die due to genetic diseases. By the way, in this case the male takes Active participation in the upbringing of children, and if something happens to the mother, then she completely takes care of the offspring.
The cheetah is one of the most predatory and fastest animals on the planet, which are members of the cat family. It should be noted that in terms of speed, the cheetah is second only to the jaguar, but the most maximum speed that a cheetah can develop will be approximately 110 to 115 km / h.
The population of this species of mammals is not high.
Cheetah - description, structure, characteristics
By their own anatomical features the cheetah is a bit like domestic cats, but the difference between them is not only in size, because the cheetah's body has a slightly longish shape.
At the same time, at first glance it may seem that this animal is not able to survive in such harsh and harsh conditions, while due to its well-developed muscles, the cheetah is able to instantly pick up high speed for hunting prey.
The special features of the structure of the cheetah are its long, but very strong legs, the body has an oblong shape, and the head is small.
The body size of an adult can reach up to 1.5 meters, but its tail can be about 80 cm in size, almost all cheetahs are the same size in height, so the height of an adult can reach up to 1 meter. But its weight can be different and have limits from 50 to 80 kg.
The color of the cheetah, as a rule, has a sandy or dark yellow tint, only the belly of the animal has white color, while there are small black spots on the entire body of the animal, with the exception of the belly.
How long does a cheetah live?
As a rule, almost all cheetahs in wild environment can live up to a maximum of 25 years, however, this figure can increase significantly if they are kept in captivity under constant supervision.
Where does the cheetah live?
The habitat of this predator is open and flat terrain, where there is a lot of free space for viewing and choosing a prey.
The habitat of this species of animal is distributed throughout almost the entire territory of the African continent, and is less common in the Asian region.
Subspecies of cheetahs, photos and names
Currently, scientists have 5 subspecies of cheetahs, almost all of them live in Africa, and only one species is very rare in the Asian region.
Thus, as of 2007, African continent According to scientists, about 4,500 cheetahs have been identified.
Such a population is considered to be very small, therefore these predatory mammals are listed in the Red Book.
So, four subspecies that live in Africa:
- Acinonyx jubatus hecki
- Acinonyx jubatus fearsoni
- Acinonyx jubatus jubatus
- Acinonyx jubatus soemmerringi
But the subspecies of cheetahs, which is found in Asia "Acinonyx jubatus venaticus" or the Asiatic cheetah, mainly lives in Iran. This type animals has a very small population, and their number does not even reach 100 individuals.
The distinctive features of the Asian cheetah from the African ones are its body structure. So in Asiatic cheetahs: short, but very strong and powerful paws, a rather powerful neck, as well as a very thick skin.
king cheetah
In the wild, cheetahs may have a body color that is not characteristic of cheetahs, this can be seen very, very rarely. Such an uncharacteristic color for cheetahs can only be due to gene mutations.
The color itself has the following appearance - along the entire length of the back of the animal there are black stripes of black color, and along the rest of the body there are black spots of various sizes. Individuals of this species were first discovered in the late 20s of the last century.
However, for a long time, many scientists believed that the king cheetah was bred by hybridizing a leopard with a cheetah. But already in the early 80s of the last century, an event occurred that gave an answer to the origin of the royal cheetah.
In a special scientific center cheetahs "De Wildt" in individuals with a normal color, a small cheetah with an unusual color was born.
How does a cheetah hunt?
The cheetah is active mainly during the day when there is very good visibility. As a rule, the cheetah prefers to hunt in the prime of life or in the evening, but when it is not yet completely dark. The fact is that the cheetah does not like to hunt at night.
The cheetah's hunting process is as follows: the cheetah does not attack its prey from a hiding place, but catches its prey in pursuit, alternating a very fast run with long and powerful cheetah jumps.
Chasing its prey in the process of chasing a cheetah can instantly change its direction of movement.
The cheetah knocks down its prey with one stroke of its paw, after which it strangles its caught prey.
It should be noted that if the victim still escapes during the chase of the cheetah, then he leaves the victim alone. So during the pursuit of the victim, the cheetah spends quite a lot of energy, so it is easier for the cheetah to let go of a potential victim than to pursue it for a long time.
In this case, he will definitely repeat his new attempt until he catches his own food.
What does a cheetah eat?
The basis of the cheetah's diet menu is ungulates, and there are also cases when a cheetah is not averse to feasting on small prey, namely hares. It should be noted that cheetahs are very careful about food.
So, for example, they will never eat carrion, besides, after they eat, but the prey is not eaten, then the cheetahs will no longer eat it up again. As a rule, the cheetah will hunt for new and fresh prey.
Cheetah breeding
On the onset mating season in cheetahs, males of these animals form small groups of 3-5 individuals, which necessarily include adults from one litter. All this is necessary in order to protect their territory from males from other groups, which may also contain possible female partners.
The gestation period of a female cheetah can last from 80 to 90 days, while the female is able to reproduce from two to five kittens at a time.
Little kittens are born blind and defenseless, and only after 9-15 days do the eyes of the cubs open.
At birth, small cheetah kittens have long and soft hair, which has a slightly grayish color with a blue tint, and the spots on the skin begin to stand out after some time, but the tip of the tail has a dark color, which will simply disappear after 3-5 months.
Almost all cheetah cubs live with their mother upon reaching 1-1.5 years, after which, young and independent cheetahs begin to live independently.
The most difficult periods for cheetahs are autumn and spring, it is at this time that they often suffer from various viral diseases.
Photo of a cheetah
Asunonyx jubatus
Cheetah (English), Gepard (German), Guepard (French), Chita, Guepardo (Spanish).
The English word "cheetah" is derived from the Indian names chita (Hindustani), chitra (Gond), cital (Hindi) or chitraka (Sanskrit), all of which mean "spotted" or "speckled". Sometimes it is called a hunting leopard.
Several subspecies of the cheetah from Asia and Africa have been described, although the differences between them are not entirely clear. Some authors do not distinguish between subspecies, but we, following Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (Ellerman & Morrison-Scott), divide the cheetah into two subspecies: the Asian cheetah (A.j.venaticus), described below, and the African cheetah (A.j.jubatus).
Asunonyx jubatus venaticus
Asian Cheetah.
DESCRIPTION. Body length including head 110-150 cm (44-59 inches). Tail length 60-80 cm (24-31 inches). Height at withers 70-85 cm (28-33 inches). Weight 40-60 kg (90-130 pounds). A large, slender cat whose body tapers towards the back, with long, slender legs and a small, round head. The pale-yellow skin is covered with small black spots, there are characteristic black facial stripes ("tear stripes"), stretching from the eyes to the mouth. The hair on the neck and withers is thick and forms a small mane. The tail is long, with black transverse rings towards the end and a fluffy white tip. The nails are blunt, slightly curved and only partially retractable. Females are smaller than males, more gracefully built and without a mane around their necks, but otherwise similar to males.
.LOCATION. Semi-deserts, cereal steppes and savanna. They are rare in the forest zone.
SPREADING. Initially, it was widely distributed in Southwest Asia from the Arabian Peninsula and Palestine east to Central India, and north to Turkmenistan. In all likelihood, disappeared from all of Asia, except Iran; possibly also preserved in parts of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Outside of Asia, the cheetah is distributed throughout most of Africa, except for the Central Sahara, and the rainforest zone.
TAXONOMICAL NOTES. For Asia, three subspecies of the cheetah are mentioned: A.j.raddei (Transcaspian territories), A.j.venator (India), A.j.venaticus (India). Some authors believe that A.j.venaticus also lives in North Africa others do not agree with this. All Asian subspecies are here considered together under the priority name venaticus Griffith, 1821.
NOTES. Usually not considered an object of sport hunting. The cheetah is a peaceful and non-aggressive animal, often tamed and used as a hunting hound more than 4,300 years ago. Domestic cheetahs are said to be very affectionate and playful animals.
STATUS. All cheetahs are listed as endangered in the USDI (1972) and Appendix 1 of CITES (1975). The Asian subspecies (A.j.venaticus) is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Laws on the protection of cheetahs have been adopted in almost all Asian countries.
A cheetah is a mammal that belongs to the cat family, the genus Cheetah. Today this species is the only one that managed to survive in wild nature. It is the fastest running animal on the planet. When an animal hunts its prey, it can reach speeds of up to 112 kilometers per hour.
General description of the appearance and characteristics of the animal
The body of the individual has an elongated structure, very graceful and slender, and although the cheetah seems to appearance fragile, he has well-built muscles. The predator's legs are muscular, long and very strong. The claws on the paws of a mammal do not fully retract while running or walking, which is unusual for a cat family. The shape of the cat's head is medium-sized, it has small ears that have rounded outlines.
The length of the body of the animal can vary from 1.23 to 1.5 meters, the length of the tail can reach 63–75 centimeters, the height at the withers is 60–100 centimeters. Predator body weight can vary from 40 to 65-70 kilograms.
The fur of the animal is relatively short and not very thick, its color is presented in a sandy yellow hue. Also, over the entire surface of the fur, excluding the belly area, small spots of a dark shade are evenly distributed, which have different shape and also the size. It happens that an unusual mane appears in the area of \u200b\u200bthe withers of the animal, which is formed from small and coarse hair. On the muzzle of the animal there are black stripes, from the inner corners of the eye and straight to the mouth. These are kind of marks, thanks to which the predator can easily and quickly focus his eyes during the hunting process, they also protect the cat's eyes from the possibility of being blinded by the sun.
What is the lifespan of an adult?
In nature, a cheetah can live from 20 to 25 years, while cats rarely live up to 25 years. If the predator is kept in captivity, but all the rules and maintenance of the cat are observed, then the life span can increase significantly.
Where is this predator accustomed to live?
Cheetah is a cat who is accustomed to living in such climatic zones, like deserts or savannahs, which have a flat relief and earth's surface. Most of all, the predator prefers to settle on open space. Representatives of cheetahs live mainly in Africa, in countries such as Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Benin, Zambia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Somalia, Niger, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Sudan.
Some more countries where you can easily meet the animal are considered: Tanzania, Chad, Ethiopia, Togo, Uganda, the Central African Republic and South Africa. Raptor rearing can also be seen in Swaziland. In the region of Asia, the cheetah practically does not exist; it can be found in very small groups on the territory of Iran.
The main distinguishing features of the cheetah and leopard
The leopard and cheetah are animals that are usually classified as mammals, the order of predators and the cat family. . In this case, the leopard belongs to the genus of panthers., and the cheetah to the genus of cheetahs. These two types of cats have a large number differences:
What are the subspecies of the modern predator?
Now we are accustomed to distinguish only 5 subspecies modern cheetahs. So, 4 of them live in Africa, and the fifth is very rare to find in Asia. According to a study conducted in 2007, about 4,500 individuals live in Africa. So, this animal was included in the IUCN Red List.
- Asian subspecies.
The Asiatic cheetah is accustomed to living on the territory of Iran in the provinces of Markazi, Fars and Khorasan, but the number of individuals of this subspecies is very small. There is also a possibility that some individuals live in the region of Pakistan or Afghanistan. In total, no more than 60 individuals have survived in nature. On the territory of zoos is around 23 asian predator. At the same time, this animal has some differences from the African subspecies: the paws of the predator are shorter, the neck is more powerful, and the skin is several times denser and thicker.
- Royal subspecies of cheetahs.
Among the simple color of a predator, there are exceptions that occur due to rare mutations at the genetic level. For example, the king cheetah has such features. Black stripes run along the territory of its back, and large dark spots are located on the sides, which in some cases can merge together. First time given an unusual breed of predators was found in 1926, then for a long time experts did not understand what type of cat it should be attributed to. At first, scientists thought that this individual was produced by crossing a cheetah and a serval, and even considered relegating the king cheetah to a new and separate species.
But the time has come when geneticists put an end to their disputes. This happened in 1981, when the De Wildt Cheetah Center, which was located in South Africa, two mammals had offspring, and one of the cubs had an unusual coat color. King cheetahs are capable freely interbreed with their counterparts, who have the usual color of the skin. At the same time, completely healthy and beautiful babies are born in individuals.
Also exists a large number of species of predators that could not stand the time and died out a long time ago.
Other colors of the predator
There are other coat colors in the animal, which arose due to various mutations. IN natural environment Habitat experts noticed individuals with different colors and colors of fur. Eg:
There are individuals that have a very pale and dull coloration of the fur, this is especially evident in the inhabitants of desert areas. There is an explanation for this, because such a feature can act as a camouflage device that can protect the animal from excessively scorching sun rays.
Ecology
The Asiatic cheetah, one of the rarest animals on the planet, is trying to attack livestock in areas where wild food supplies are running low, new research has shown.
An international team of scientists who worked in Iran investigated what these animals eat in places where their numbers are declining due to poaching. Big cats have been found to prey on domestic animals as they cannot survive on small prey. To save the cheetahs it is necessary to protect them from poachers and conflicts with local farmers.
The Asiatic cheetah is an extremely rare subspecies of the cheetah found in Asia. These animals were thought to be able to survive by feeding on rabbits and hares in areas where medium-sized ungulates had already died out. However, studies have shown that this is not the case.
Scientists have spent 5 years researching cheetahs in two nature reserves in northeastern Iran, near the border with Turkmenistan. Wild ungulates, including gazelles, wild sheep and goats, have disappeared from these places.
Having analyzed the excrement big cats, scientists were able to understand what cheetahs eat in these places. Studies have shown that although rabbits and hares are part of the diet of cheetahs, they do not provide them with the required dose. nutrients. Cheetahs prefer medium-sized herbivores and may attack livestock if necessary.
The researchers said that local herders may be completely unaware that Asiatic cheetahs are encroaching on their livestock, since these animals are very rare. However, in order to avoid future conflicts with local authorities, the researchers recommend introducing additional laws against poaching, as well as somehow beautifying nature reserves so that rare cheetahs have not disappeared from these places forever.
Asiatic cheetahs in Iran can be compared to pandas in China or tigers in India as symbols of wildlife conservation. Some experts claim that only 200 individuals lived in Iran in the 1970s, and today there are no more than 70 Asiatic cheetahs left in the wild.
