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{{this|the animal|Cheetah (disambiguation)}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Cheetah<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft|pages=532-533}}</ref>
| fossil_range = Late [[Pliocene]] to Recent
| status = VU
| trend = down
| status_system = iucn3.1
| status_ref =<ref name="iucn">{{IUCN2008|assessors=Bauer, H., Belbachir, F., Durant, S., Hunter, L., Marker, L., Packer, K. & Purchase, N.|year=2008|id=219|title=Acinonyx jubatus|downloaded=9 October 2008}}</ref>
| image = Cheetah Kruger.jpg
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Carnivora]]
| familia = [[Felidae]]
| subfamilia = [[Felinae]]
| genus = '''''Acinonyx'''''
| genus_authority = [[Joshua Brookes|Brookes]], 1828
| species = '''''A. jubatus'''''
| binomial = ''Acinonyx jubatus''
| binomial_authority = ([[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1775)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = ''[[Acinonyx jubatus hecki|A. j. hecki]]'' <br> ''[[Acinonyx jubatus venaticus|A. j. venaticus]]''
| range_map = Cheetah range.gif
| range_map_caption = The range of the cheetah
| type_species = '''''Acinonyx venator'''''
| type_species_authority = [[Joshua Brookes|Brookes]], 1828 (= ''Felis jubata'', [[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1775) by monotypy
}}

The '''cheetah''' (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is an atypical member of the cat family ([[Felidae]]) that is unique in its speed, while lacking climbing abilities. As such, it is placed in its own genus, '''''Acinonyx'''''. It is the fastest land animal, reaching speeds between {{convert|112|and|123|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}<ref name="cbn">{{cite web |url=http://www.jstor.org/view/00222372/ap050163/05a00030/12?frame=noframe&userID=83e69956@siu.edu/01cce4405a00501cdc4b9&dpi=3&config=jstor|title=Motions of Cheetah and Horse |author=Milton Hildebrand |accessdate=2007-10-30 |date=1959 |publisher=[[Journal of Mammalogy]] }} Although according to Cheetah, Luke Hunter and Dave Hamman, (Struik Publishers, 2003), pp. 37-38, the cheetah's fastest recorded speed was {{convert|110|km/h|abbr=on}}.
</ref> in short bursts covering distances up to {{convert|460|m|abbr=on}}, and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to {{convert|110|km/h|abbr=on}} in three seconds, greater than most [[supercar]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/gmis9911.htm | title = Fake Flies and Cheating Cheetahs | publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation | author = Kruszelnicki, Karl S. | year = 1999 | accessdate = 2007-12-07}} </ref>.

The word "cheetah" is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''chitrakāyaḥ'', meaning "[[Variegation|variegated]] body", via the [[Hindi]] चीता ''cītā''.<ref>{{cite book | author = cheetah | year = n.d. | title = The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition | accessdate = 2007-04-16 | url = http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cheetah}}</ref>

==Description==
[[Image:Cheetah4.jpg|thumb|left|A cheetah]]
The cheetah's [[chest]] is deep and its [[waist]] is narrow. The coarse, short fur of the cheetah is tan with round black spots measuring from {{convert|2|to|3|cm|in|abbr=on}} across, affording it some [[camouflage]] while hunting. There are no spots on its white underside, but the tail has spots, which merge to form four to six dark rings at the end. The tail usually ends in a bushy white tuft. The cheetah has a small [[head]] with high-set eyes. Black "tear marks" run from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth to keep sunlight out of its eyes and to aid in hunting and seeing long distances.

The adult cheetah weighs from {{convert|40|to|65|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. Its total body length is from {{convert|115|to|135|cm|in|abbr=on}}, while the tail can measure up to {{convert|84|cm|abbr=on}} in length. Males tend to be slightly larger than females and have slightly bigger heads, but there is not a great variation in cheetah sizes and it is difficult to tell males and females apart by appearance alone. Compared to a similarly-sized [[leopard]], the cheetah is generally shorter-bodied, but is longer tailed and taller (it averages about {{convert|90|cm|abbr=on}} tall) and so it appears more streamlined.

Some cheetahs also have a rare fur pattern [[mutation]]: cheetahs with larger, blotchy, merged spots are known as 'king cheetahs'. It was once thought to be a separate subspecies, but it is merely a mutation of the African cheetah. The 'king cheetah' has only been seen in the wild a handful of times, but it has been bred in captivity.

The cheetah's paws have semi-retractable [[claw]]s<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite journal | author = O'Brien, S., D. Wildt, M. Bush | year = 1986 | title = The Cheetah in Genetic Peril | journal = [[Scientific American]] | volume = 254 | pages = 68–76}}</ref> (known only in three other cat species - the [[Fishing Cat]], the [[Flat-headed Cat]] and the [[Iriomote Cat]]) offering the cat extra grip in its high-speed pursuits. The [[ligament]] structure of the cheetah's claws is the same as those of other cats; it simply lacks the sheath of skin and fur present in other varieties, and therefore the claws are always visible, with the exception of the [[dewclaw]]. The dewclaw itself is much shorter and straighter than other cats.

Adaptations that enable the cheetah to run as fast as it does include large nostrils that allow for increased oxygen intake, and an enlarged heart and lungs that work together to circulate oxygen efficiently. During a typical chase its respiratory rate increases from 60 to 150 breaths per minute.<ref name="O'Brien" /> While running, in addition to having good traction due to its semi-retractable claws, the cheetah uses its tail as a rudder-like means of steering to allow it to make sharp turns, necessary to outflank prey who often make such turns to escape.

Unlike "true" [[Pantherinae|big cats]], the cheetah can [[purr]] as it inhales, but cannot [[Roar (animal)|roar]]. By contrast, the big cats can roar but cannot purr, except while exhaling. However, the cheetah is still considered by some to be the smallest of the big cats. While it is often mistaken for the leopard, the cheetah does have distinguishing features, such as the aforementioned long "tear-streak" lines that run from the corners of its eyes to its mouth. The body frame of the cheetah is also very different from that of the leopard, most notably so in its thinner and longer tail, and unlike the leopard, its spots are not arranged into rosettes.

The cheetah is a vulnerable species. Out of all the big cats, it is the least able to [[adaptation|adapt]] to new environments. It has always proved difficult to breed in captivity, although recently a few zoos have managed to succeed at this. Once widely hunted for its fur, the cheetah now suffers more from the loss of both habitat and prey.

The cheetah was formerly considered to be particularly primitive among the cats and to have evolved approximately 18 million years ago. New research, however, suggests that the last common ancestor of all 40 existing species of felines lived more recently than that - about 11 million years ago. The same research indicates that the cheetah, while highly derived morphologically, is not of particularly ancient lineage, having separated from its closest living relatives (''Puma concolor'', the [[cougar]], and ''Puma yaguarondi'', the [[jaguarundi]]) around five million years ago.<ref name="Mattern and McLennan">{{cite journal | author = Mattern, M. Y., D. A. McLennan | year = 2000 | title = Phylogeny and Speciation of Felids | journal = Cladistics | volume = 16 | pages = 232–253 | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2000.tb00354.x <!--Retrieved from CrossRef by DOI bot-->}}</ref><ref name="Johnson et al.">{{cite journal | author = Johnson, W. E., E. Eizirik, J. Pecon-Slattery, W. J. Murphy, A. Antunes, E. Teeling, S. J. O'Brien | year = 2006 | title = The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment | journal = [[Science (journal)|Science]] | volume = 311 | pages = 73–77 | doi = 10.1126/science.1122277 | pmid = 16400146}}</ref>. These felids haven't changed much since they first appeared in the [[Living fossil|fossil record]].

==Reproduction and social life==
[[Image:A nice little cheetah edit1.jpg|thumb|Cheetah cub]]

Females reach maturity within twenty to twenty-four months, and males around twelve months (although they do not usually mate until at least three years old), and mating occurs throughout the year. A study of cheetahs in the [[Serengeti]] showed that females are sexually promiscuous and often have cubs by many different males.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.inthenews.co.uk/infocus/features/in-focus/scandal-on-serengeti-$1090967.htm | title = Scandal on the Serengeti: New light has been shed on the extent of female cheetahs' unfaithfulness to their male partners. | publisher = inthenews.co.uk | date = [[May 30]], [[2007]] | accessdate = 2007-12-07}} </ref>

Females give [[childbirth|birth]] to up to nine cubs after a [[gestation]] period of ninety to ninety-eight days, although the average litter size is three to five. Cubs weigh from {{convert|150|to|300|g|oz|abbr=on}} at birth. Unlike some other cats, the cheetah is born with its characteristic spots. Cubs are also born with a downy underlying fur on their necks, called a ''mantle'', extending to mid-back. This gives them a mane or [[Mohawk hairstyle|Mohawk-type]] appearance; this fur is shed as the cheetah grows older. It has been speculated that this mane gives a cheetah cub the appearance of the [[Honey Badger]] (Ratel), to scare away potential aggressors.<ref>Eaton, Randall L. (1976) A Possible Case of Mimicry in Larger Mammals. Evolution 30(4):853-856 doi 10.2307/2407827</ref> Cubs leave their mother between thirteen and twenty months after birth. Life span is up to twelve years in the wild, but up to twenty years in captivity.

Unlike males, females are solitary and tend to avoid each other, though some mother/daughter pairs have been known to be formed for small periods of time. The cheetah has a unique, well-structured [[social order]]. Females live alone except when they are raising cubs and they raise their cubs on their own. The first eighteen months of a cub's life are important - cubs learn many lessons because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey species and avoid other predators. At eighteen months, the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a [[sibling]], or "sib" group, that will stay together for another six months. At about two years, the female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life.

===Territories===
====Males====
{{refimprovesect|date=August 2008}}
Males are very sociable and will group together for life, usually with their brothers in the same litter; although if a cub is the only male in the litter then two or three lone males may group up, or a lone male may join an existing group. These groups are called ''coalitions''. A coalition is six times more likely to obtain an animal territory than a lone male, although studies have shown that coalitions keep their territories just as long as lone males — between four and four and a half years.

Males are very territorial. Females' home ranges can be very large and trying to build a territory around several females' ranges is impossible to defend. Instead, males choose the points at which several of the females' home ranges overlap, creating a much smaller space, which can be properly defended against intruders while maximizing the chance of reproduction. Coalitions will try their most to maintain territories in order to find females with whom they will mate. The size of the territory also depends on the available resources; depending on the part of [[Africa]], the size of a male's territory can vary greatly from {{convert|37|to|160|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.

Males [[Territorial marking|mark their territory]] by urinating on objects that stand out, such as trees, logs, or [[termite]] mounds. The whole coalition contributes to the scent. Males will attempt to kill any intruders and fights result in serious injury or death.

====Females====
{{refimprovesect|date=August 2008}}
[[Image:Cheetah and cubs.jpg|Female cheetah and cubs in the [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area]]|thumb]]
Unlike males and other felines, females do not establish territories. Instead, the area they live in is termed a ''[[home range]]''. These overlap with other females' home ranges, often those of their daughters, mothers, or female littermates. Females always hunt alone, although cubs will accompany their mothers to learn to hunt once they reach the age of five to six weeks.

The size of a home range depends entirely on the availability of prey. Cheetahs in southern African [[woodland]]s have ranges as small as {{convert|34|km2|abbr=on}}, while in some parts of [[Namibia]] they can reach {{convert|1500|km2|abbr=on}}.

===Vocalizations===
The cheetah cannot roar, unlike other big cats, but does have the following vocalizations:
* '''Chirping''' - When cheetahs attempt to find each other, or a mother tries to locate her cubs, it uses a high-pitched barking called chirping. The chirps made by a cheetah cub sound more like a bird chirping, and so are termed '''chirping'''.
* '''Churring''' or '''stuttering''' - This vocalization is emitted by a cheetah during social meetings. A churr can be seen as a social invitation to other cheetahs, an expression of interest, uncertainty, or appeasement or during meetings with the opposite sex (although each sex churrs for different reasons).
* '''Growling''' - This vocalization is often accompanied by hissing and spitting and is exhibited by the cheetah during annoyance, or when faced with danger.
* '''Yowling''' - This is an escalated version of growling, usually displayed when danger worsens.
* '''Purring''' - This is made when the cheetah is content, usually during pleasant social meetings (mostly between cubs and their mothers).

===Interspecific predatory relationships===
Cheetahs are outranked by all the other large predators in most of their range. Because they are designed for extreme bursts of short speed at the expense of both power and the ability to climb trees, they cannot defend themselves against most of Africa's other predator species. They avoid fighting typically and will surrender a kill immediately to even a single hyena, rather than risk any injury, as anything that slows them down is essentially life threatening. The cheetah's death rate is very high during the early weeks of its life; up to 90% of cheetah cubs are killed during this time by [[lion]]s, leopards, [[hyena]]s [[African Wild Dog|wild dogs]], or even by [[eagle]]s. Cheetah cubs often hide in thick brush for safety. Mother cheetahs will defend their young and are at times successful in driving predators away from their cubs. Coalitions of male cheetahs can also chase away other predators, depending on the coalition size and the size and number of the predator. Because of its speed, a healthy adult cheetah has no predators. <ref name="hay">{{cite web |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118624020/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0|title=Prey preferences of the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) (Felidae: Carnivora): morphological limitations or the need to capture rapidly consumable prey before kleptoparasites arrive?|author=M. W. Hayward, M. Hofmeyr, J. O'Brien & G. I. H. Kerley |accessdate=2008-10-05 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Journal of Zoology]] }}</ref>

A cheetah has a 50% chance of losing its kills to other predators.<ref name="O'Brien" /> Cheetahs avoid competition by hunting at different times of the day and by eating immediately after the kill. Due to the reduction in habitat in Africa, Cheetahs in recent years have faced greater pressure from other native African predators as available range declines.

==Diet and hunting==
{{refimprovesect|date=August 2008}}
[[Image:Cheetah with impala kill.jpg|thumb|A cheetah with impala kill]]
The cheetah is a [[carnivore]], eating mostly [[mammal]]s under {{convert|40|kg|abbr=on}}, including the [[Thomson's Gazelle]], the [[Grant's Gazelle|Grant's gazelle]], the [[Springbok (antelope)|springbok]] and the [[impala]]. The young of larger mammals such as [[wildebeest]]s and [[zebra]]s are taken at times, and adults too, when the cats hunt in groups. [[Guineafowl]] and [[hare]]s are also prey. While the other big cats mainly hunt by night, the cheetah is a [[Diurnality|diurnal]] hunter. It hunts usually either early in the morning or later in the evening when it is not so hot, but there is still enough light.
[[Image:Cheetah chasing Thompsons gazelle.jpg|thumb|left|A cheetah in pursuit of Thomson's Gazelle. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.]]
The cheetah hunts by [[visual perception|vision]] rather than by [[Olfaction|scent]]. Prey is stalked to within {{convert|10|-|30|m|ft|abbr=on}}, then chased. This is usually over in less than a minute, and if the cheetah fails to make a catch quickly, it will give up. The cheetah has an average hunting success rate of around 50% - half of its chases result in failure.<ref name="O'Brien" />

Running at speeds up to {{convert|112|km/h|abbr=on}} puts a great deal of strain on the cheetah's body. When sprinting, the cheetah's [[Core temperature|body temperature]] becomes so high that it would be deadly to continue - this is why the cheetah is often seen resting after it has caught its prey. If it is a hard chase, it sometimes needs to rest for half an hour or more. The cheetah kills its prey by tripping it during the chase, then biting it on the underside of the throat to suffocate it, for the cheetah is not strong enough to break the necks of the four-legged prey it mainly hunts. The bite may also puncture a vital [[artery]] in the neck. Then the cheetah proceeds to devour its catch as quickly as possible before the kill is taken by stronger predators.

The diet of a cheetah is dependent upon the area in which it lives. For example, on the [[East Africa]]n plains, its preferred prey is the Thomson's Gazelle. This small antelope is shorter than the cheetah (about {{convert|58|-|70|cm|in|abbr=on}} tall and {{convert|70|-|107|cm|in|abbr=on}} long), and also cannot run faster than the cheetah (only up to {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}}), which combine to make it an appropriate prey. Cheetahs look for individuals which have strayed some distance from their group, and do not necessarily seek out old or weak ones.

==Habitat==
[[Image:Serengeti Cheetah.jpg|thumb|A cheetah in [[Serengeti National Park]], [[Tanzania]].]]
The cheetah thrives in areas with vast expanses of land where prey is abundant. The cheetah prefers to live in an open [[biotope]], such as [[Semi-arid climate|semi-desert]], [[prairie]], and thick brush, though it can be found in a variety of habitats. In Namibia, for example, it lives in [[grassland]]s, [[savanna]]hs, areas of dense [[vegetation]], and mountainous terrain.

The cheetah is found in the wild primarily in Africa, but in the past its range extended into much of [[Asia]], and a small population survives in [[Iran]], where conservationists are taking steps to protect it. In much of its former range, it was tamed by [[aristocracy|aristocrats]] and used to hunt [[antelope]]s in much the same way as is still done with members of the [[greyhound]] group of dogs. Aside from an estimated fifty cheetahs living in the [[Khorasan Province]] of Iran,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.wildaboutcats.org/asiatic.htm | title = Asiatic Cheetah | publisher = Wild About Cats | accessdate = 2007-12-07}} </ref> the distribution of the cheetah is now limited to Africa.

Of the five [[subspecies]] of cheetah in the genus ''Acinonyx'', four live in Africa and one in Iran. It is possible, though doubtful, that some cheetahs remain in [[India]]. There have also been several unconfirmed reports of [[Asiatic Cheetah]]s in the [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]] province of [[Pakistan]], with at least one dead animal being recovered recently.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.wwfpak.org/sc_asiaticcheetah.php | title = Asiatic Cheetah | publisher = [[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]]-Pakistan | accessdate = 2007-12-07}}</ref>

==Genetics and classification==
[[Image:Cheetah with cub.jpg|thumb|Cheetah mother with cub]]
The [[genus]] name, ''Acinonyx'', means "no-move-claw" in [[Greek language|Greek]], while the [[species]] name, ''jubatus'', means "maned" in [[Latin]], a reference to the mane found in cheetah cubs.

The cheetah has unusually low [[heredity|genetic]] variability and a very low [[spermatozoon|sperm]] count, which also suffers from low [[motility]] and deformed [[Flagellum|flagellae]]<ref name="O'Brien" />. Skin grafts between non-related cheetahs illustrate this point in that there is no rejection of the donor skin. It is thought that it went through a prolonged period of [[inbreeding]] following a [[Population bottleneck|genetic bottleneck]] during the [[Quaternary glaciation|last ice age]]. It probably evolved in Africa during the [[Miocene]] epoch (26 million to 7.5 million years ago), before migrating to Asia. New research by a team led by Warren Johnson and Stephen O'Brien of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity ([[National Cancer Institute]] in [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]], [[Maryland]], [[United States]]) has recently placed the last common ancestor of all existing cat species as living in Asia 11 million years ago, which may lead to revision and refinement of existing ideas about cheetah evolution. Now-extinct species include: ''Acinonyx pardinensis'' ([[Pliocene]] epoch), much larger than the modern cheetah and found in [[Europe]], India, and [[China]]; ''Acinonyx intermedius'' (mid-[[Pleistocene]] period), found over the same range. The extinct genus ''[[American cheetah|Miracinonyx]]'' was extremely cheetah-like, but recent [[DNA]] analysis has shown that ''Miracinonyx inexpectatus'', ''Miracinonyx studeri'', and ''Miracinonyx trumani'' (early to late Pleistocene epoch), found in North America and called the "North American cheetah" are not true cheetahs, instead being close relatives to the cougar.

===Subspecies===
[[Image:Fahd.jpg|thumb|[[Bedouin]] hunter with a [[Asiatic Cheetah]] and cub, [[Iraq]], 1925. Arabs Bedouins used Asiatic Cheetah for [[hunting]] animals and the most famous who used Asiatic Cheetah for hunt in arabian history was the Abbasid Caliph [[As-Saffah]]]]

For a short time it was thought that there were six subspecies of cheetah, but ''Acinonyx rex'' - the king cheetah (see below) - was abandoned after it was discovered the variation was only a recessive gene. The subspecies ''Acinonyx jubatus guttatus'' - the woolly cheetah - may also have been a variation due to a recessive gene. Other populations have been elevated to subspecies level, and there are again six subspecies recognized:<ref name=msw3/>

*[[Asiatic Cheetah]] (''Acinonyx jubatus venaticus''): northern Africa ([[Algeria]], [[Djibouti]], [[Egypt]], [[Mali]], [[Mauritania]], [[Morocco]], [[Niger]], [[Tunisia]] and [[Western Sahara]]) and Asia ([[Afghanistan]], India, Iran, [[Iraq]], [[Israel]], [[Jordan]], [[Oman]], Pakistan, [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Syria]], [[Russia]] and the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]])
*[[Northwest African Cheetah]] (''Acinonyx jubatus hecki''): western Africa ([[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Ghana]], Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and [[Senegal]])
*''Acinonyx jubatus raineyii'': eastern Africa ([[Kenya]], [[Somalia]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Uganda]])
*''Acinonyx jubatus jubatus'': southern Africa ([[Angola]], [[Botswana]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Mozambique]], [[Malawi]], [[South Africa]], Tanzania, [[Zambia]], [[Zimbabwe]] and Namibia)
*''Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii'': central Africa ([[Cameroon]], [[Chad]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Nigeria]], Niger, and [[Sudan]])
*''Acinonyx jubatus velox''

==Morphs and variations==
===King cheetah===
[[Image:Acinonyx jubatus King Cheetah.jpg|thumb|left|Note the unique coat pattern of the king cheetah]]
The king cheetah is a rare mutation of cheetah characterized by a distinct pelt pattern. It was first noted in Zimbabwe in 1926. In 1927, the naturalist [[Reginald Innes Pocock]] declared it a separate species, but reversed this decision in 1939 due to lack of evidence. In 1928, a skin purchased by [[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Walter Rothschild]] was found to be intermediate in pattern between the king cheetah and spotted cheetah and Abel Chapman considered it to be a color form of the spotted cheetah. Twenty-two such skins were found between 1926 and 1974. Since 1927, the king cheetah was reported five more times in the wild. Although strangely marked skins had come from Africa, a live king cheetah was not photographed until 1974 in South Africa's [[Kruger National Park]]. [[Cryptozoology|Cryptozoologists]] Paul and Lena Bottriell photographed one during an expedition in 1975. They also managed to obtain stuffed specimens. It appeared larger than a spotted cheetah and its fur had a different texture. There was another wild sighting in 1986—the first in seven years. By 1987, thirty-eight specimens had been recorded, many from pelts.

Its species status was resolved in 1981 when king cheetahs were born at the [[De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre]] in South Africa. In May 1981, two spotted sisters gave birth there and each litter contained one king cheetah. The sisters had both mated with a wild-caught male from the [[Transvaal]] area (where king cheetahs had been recorded). Further king cheetahs were later born at the Centre. It has been known to exist in Zimbabwe, Botswana and in the northern part of South Africa's Transvaal province. A recessive gene must be inherited from both parents in order for this pattern to appear- which is one reason why it is so rare.

===Other color variations===
Other rare color morphs of the species include speckles, [[melanism]], [[albinism]] and gray coloration. Most have been reported in Indian cheetahs, particularly in captive specimens kept for hunting.

The [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Emperor of India, [[Jahangir]], recorded having a white cheetah presented to him in 1608. In the memoirs of [[Tuzk-e-Jahangiri]], the Emperor says that in the third year of his reign: ''Raja Bir Singh Deo brought a white cheetah to show me. Although other sorts of creatures, both birds and beasts have white varieties .... I had never seen a white cheetah. Its spots, which are (usually) black, were of a blue colour, and the whiteness of the body also inclined to blue-ishness.'' This suggests a chinchilla mutation which restricts the amount of pigment on the hair shaft. Although the spots were formed of black pigment, the less dense pigmentation gives a hazy, grayish effect. As well as Jahangir's white cheetah at Agra, a report of "incipient albinism" has come from Beaufort West according to Guggisberg.

In a letter to "Nature in East Africa", H. F. Stoneham reported a melanistic cheetah (black with ghost markings) in the [[Trans-Nzoia District]] of Kenya in 1925. Vesey Fitzgerald saw a melanistic cheetah in Zambia in the company of a spotted cheetah. Red (erythristic) cheetahs have dark tawny spots on a golden background. Cream (isabelline) cheetahs have pale red spots on a pale background. Some desert region cheetahs are unusually pale; probably they are better-camouflaged and therefore better hunters and more likely to breed and pass on their paler coloration. Blue (Maltese or grey) cheetahs have variously been described as white cheetahs with grey-blue spots (chinchilla) or pale grey cheetahs with darker grey spots (Maltese mutation). A cheetah with hardly any spots was shot in Tanzania on 1921 (Pocock), it had only a few spots on the neck and back and these were unusually small.

==Economic importance==
Cheetah fur was formerly regarded as a [[status symbol]]. Today, cheetahs have a growing [[Economic system|economic]] importance for [[ecotourism]] and they are also found in [[zoo]]s. Cheetahs are far less aggressive than other big cats and can be [[Domestication|domesticated]], so cubs are sometimes illegaly sold as [[pet]]s.

Cheetahs were formerly, and sometimes still are, hunted because many farmers believe that they eat [[livestock]]. When the species came under threat, numerous campaigns were launched to try to educate farmers and encourage them to conserve cheetahs. Recent evidence has shown that cheetahs will not attack and eat livestock if they can avoid doing so, as they prefer their wild prey. However, they have no problem with including farmland as part of their territory, leading to conflict.

[[Ancient Egypt]]ians often kept cheetahs as pets, and also tamed and trained them for hunting. Cheetahs would be taken to hunting fields in low-sided carts or by horseback, hooded and blindfolded, and kept on leashes while dogs flushed out their prey. When the prey was near enough, the cheetahs would be released and their blindfolds removed. This tradition was passed on to the ancient [[Persian people|Persians]] and brought to India, where the practice was continued by Indian princes into the twentieth century. Cheetahs continued to be associated with royalty and elegance, their use as pets spreading just as their hunting skills were. Other such princes and kings kept them as pets, including [[Genghis Khan]] and [[Charlemagne]], who boasted of having kept cheetahs within their palace grounds. [[Akbar the Great]], ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605, kept as many as 1000 cheetahs.<ref name="O'Brien" /> As recently as the 1930s the [[Emperor of Ethiopia]], [[Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia|Haile Selassie]], was often photographed leading a cheetah by a leash.

==Conservation status==
Cheetah cubs have a high [[mortality rate]] due to genetic factors and predation by carnivores in competition with the cheetah, such as the lion and hyena. Recent inbreeding causes cheetahs to share very similar genetic profiles. This has led to poor sperm, birth defects, cramped teeth, curled tails, and bent limbs. Some biologists now believe that they are too inbred to flourish as a species.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rare Breed|author= Gugliotta, Guy| publisher= ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]''| date=2008-02 | url= http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rare-breed.html| accessdate=2008-03-07}}</ref>

Cheetahs are included on the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) list of [[vulnerable species]] (African subspecies threatened, Asiatic subspecies in critical situation) as well as on the US [[Endangered Species Act]]: [[threatened species]] - Appendix I of [[CITES]] (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Approximately 12,400 cheetahs remain in the wild in twenty-five African countries; Namibia has the most, with about 2,500. Another fifty to sixty critically endangered Asiatic Cheetahs are thought to remain in Iran. There have been successful breeding programs, including the use of [[in vitro fertilisation]], in zoos around the world.

Founded in Namibia in 1990, the [[Cheetah Conservation Fund]]'s mission is to be an internationally recognised centre of excellence in research and education on cheetahs and their eco-systems, working with all stakeholders to achieve best practice in the conservation and management of the world's cheetahs. The CCF has also set stations throughout South Africa in order to keep the conservation effort going.

The [[Cheetah Conservation Foundation]], a South African based organisation, was set up in 1993 for cheetah protection.

==Cultural references to cheetahs==
{{Trivia|date=September 2008}}
[[Image:Tizian 048.jpg|thumb|''Bacchus and Ariadne'' by [[Titian]], 1523.]]
[[Image:Fernand Khnopff 002.jpg|thumb|''The Caress'' by [[Fernand Khnopff]], 1887.]]
* In [[Titian]]'s ''Bacchus and Ariadne'' (1523), the god's [[chariot]] is borne by cheetahs (which were used as hunting animals in [[Renaissance]] [[Italy]]). Cheetahs were often associated with the god [[Dionysus]], whom the Romans called Bacchus.
* [[George Stubbs]]' ''Cheetah with Two Indian Attendants and a Stag'' (1764-1765) also shows the cheetah as a hunting animal and commemorates the gift of a cheetah to [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] by the English Governor of [[Chennai|Madras]], [[George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot|Sir George Pigot]]
* ''The Caress'' (1896), by the [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[Symbolism (arts)|symbolist painter]] [[Fernand Khnopff]] (1858-1921), is a representation of the myth of [[Oedipus]] and the [[Sphinx]] and portrays a creature with a woman's head and a cheetah's body (often misidentified as a leopard's).
* [[André Mercier]]'s ''[[Our Friend Yambo]]'' (1961) is a curious [[biography]] of a cheetah adopted by a [[France|French]] couple and brought to live in [[Paris]]. It is seen as a French answer to ''[[Born Free]]'' (1960), whose author, [[Joy Adamson]], produced a cheetah biography of her own, ''[[The Spotted Sphinx]]'' (1969).
* The animated series [[ThunderCats]] had a main character who was an anthropomorphic cheetah named Cheetara.
* In 1986 [[Frito-Lay]] introduced an anthropomorphic cheetah, [[Chester Cheetah]], as the mascot for their [[Cheetos]].
* Comic book superheroine [[Wonder Woman]]'s chief adversary is Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva, alias [[Cheetah (comics)|The Cheetah]]
* The 2005 movie ''[[Duma (film)|Duma]]'' is about a young South African attempting to return his pet cheetah, Duma, to the wild, with many adventures along the way. It was based on the book "[[How It Was with Dooms]]: A True Story from Africa" by Carol Cawthra Hopcraft and Xan Hopcraft.
* On the CGI animated show [[Beast Wars]]: Transformers, [[Cheetor]], one of the main characters on the Maximal faction, had the beast form of a cheetah. This was also carried over as the beast form of the Cheetor Hasbro transformer.
* The Japanese anime [[Damekko Dōbutsu]] features a clumsy but sweet-natured cheetah named Chiiko.
* The first release of [[Apple Inc.]]'s [[Mac OS X]] was code-named "Cheetah," which set the pattern for the subsequent releases being named after big cats.
* [[Cheetah (film)|Cheetah]] is a 1989 live-action film from Walt Disney Pictures starring Keith Coogan.
* In the 2005 film [[The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]], the cheetah is one of the animals that fights on [[Aslan]]'s side.

==References==
{{reflist}}

===General references===
* ''Great Cats, Majestic Creatures of the Wild'', ed. John Seidensticker, illus. Frank Knight, (Rodale Press, 1991), ISBN 0-87857-965-6
* ''Cheetah'', Katherine (or Kathrine) & Karl Ammann, Arco Pub, (1985), ISBN 0-668-06259-2.
* ''Cheetah (Big Cat Diary)'', Jonathan Scott, Angela Scott, (HarperCollins, 2005), ISBN 0-00-714920-4
* ''Science'' (vol 311, p 73)
* ''Cheetah'', Luke Hunter and Dave Hamman, (Struik Publishers, 2003), ISBN 1-86872-719-X
* Allsen, Thomas T. (2006). "Natural History and Cultural History: The Circulation of Hunting Leopards in Eurasia, Seventh-Seventeenth Centuries." In: ''Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World''. Ed. Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai'i Press. Pp. 116-135. ISBN-13: ISBN 978-0-8248-2884-4; ISBN-10: ISBN 0-8248-2884-4

==External links==
{{commonscat|Acinonyx jubatus}}
{{wikispecies|Acinonyx jubatus}}
* [http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/name/Acinonyx_jubatus Biodiversity Heritage Library bibliography] for ''Acinonyx jubatus''
* [http://www.cheetah.org/ Cheetah Conservation Fund]
* [http://www.dewildt.org.za De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/gmis9911.htm Fake Flies and Cheating Cheetahs]: measuring the speed of a cheetah<!-- This should probably be used as a source and not as external link. -->
* [http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/mutant-cheetahs.html Mutant Cheetahs]: information on color variants of cheetahs<!-- This should probably be used as a source and not as external link. -->

<!-- This could probably be used as a source, but definitely not as external link: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6701515.stm BBC News: Cheating cheetahs caught by DNA] -->

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Revision as of 13:30, 20 October 2008

rawrrr im a cheetah :))))

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