1. Fast Cheetahs of the Savanna By Aubrey & Amiria

2. Fast Facts About Cheetahs  They can run as fast as 60 or 70 miles per hour for short distances.  They weigh less than a piano.  Their length is shorter than a school bus.  They eat mostly meat.

3. How They Look Most cheetahs are golden tan with black spots. Their faces have black stripes that curve from the inner corner of their eyes to the corners of their mouths. These stripes are called tear marks. Their tails have black stripes and a white tip. They have white fur on their belly, too. Some cheetahs have different coloring. Some are white and some are tan. Cheetahs have slim bodies.

4. Physical Details  Adult cheetahs weigh 40 to 65 kg. or 90 to 140 lb.  Total body length is 112 to 135 cm. or 45 to 55 in.  The tail is 84 cm. or 33 in. long.  A female is lighter than a male.

5.  They have big, long teeth called canine teeth.  Thick fur on the back of a cheetah’s neck is called a mantle or a mane.  Some have bigger chests and heads.  Cheetahs are smaller than other wild cats.

6.  They have long, strong legs.  Cheetahs have non-retractable claws on their feet.  Their non-retractable claws stay out all the time.  They help cheetahs grip the ground as they run. The claws help when the cheetahs run to catch their prey.

7. Their Habitat Most cheetahs live in dry, open areas, and grasslands. Cheetahs live in eastern and southern Africa. Adult males and females rarely meet except to mate. Only a few hundred cheetahs live in Asia. Cheetahs make their homes on savannas. They need open spaces where they can chase their prey.

8. Africa is very warm. Cheetahs escape the heat by resting under trees or in tall grass. Many live in the African county of Namibia. Some live in a famous national park in Tanzania called the Serengeti. That park is made for wild animals. Some live in the Middle East, too. They live in an Asian county called Iran.

9. Cheetah Lifestyle Cheetahs don’t live in large groups. Cheetahs hunt animals that are smaller then they are. They hunt mainly during the day. Cheetahs are the fastest land animals.

10. Cheetahs’ food is called prey. They eat a lot of different animals. Cheetahs eat antelopes, gazelles, birds, rabbits, ostriches, wild pigs, and wildebeests. They eat fast, so hyenas or vultures can’t steal their prey. When cheetahs catch their prey, they choke it and rip it apart. Cheetahs are mainly carnivores but sometimes they also eat fruit.

11. Family Life About three months after mating, the mother gives birth to two or more cubs. Cheetah adults can only have three to five cubs. When cubs are born they are very small. Newborns can’t see and they are helpless. They weigh 12 ounces. Cubs drink their mothers’ milk. After about five weeks, cubs can eat meat. Cheetah cubs can’t roar, but their mother can roar for them to come.

12. Baby cubs practice pouncing on branches and act like the branches are prey. Some cheetah cubs stay in trees to be safe. Cheetah cubs stay with their mother more than a year before they try to hunt. Cheetah cubs watch their mother hunt. When a cheetah turns two, it can live on its own. Some baby cubs get attacked by hyenas and other animals during their first three years and don’t live to be adults.

13. For years, people killed cheetahs for their spotted fur. Selling or owning cheetah skins is illegal now. Today, people are working to save cheetahs. They try to rescue hurt or orphaned cheetahs and they hope to free them into the wild. Some people are turning cheetah habitats into farms and some of the farmers kill cheetahs. Other people work to protect the cheetah habitats, so that cheetahs will have safe places to live.

14. National Geographic Kids. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ Jan. 30, 2015http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ Things Wild. http://thingswild.com/cheetah2.html, Jan. 30, 2015http://thingswild.com/cheetah2.html "Cheetah." World Book Kids. World Book, 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2015. “Cheetah.” Arkive. http://www.arkive.org/cheetah/acinonyx-jubatus/image-G115390.htmhttp://www.arkive.org/cheetah/acinonyx-jubatus/image-G115390.htm Web. Feb.13, 2015 “Cheetah.” Arkive. http://www.arkive.org/cheetah/acinonyx-jubatus/image-G4251.html.htmhttp://www.arkive.org/cheetah/acinonyx-jubatus/image-G4251.html.htm Web. Feb.13, 2015 Earth touch network. http ://www.Earthtouchnews.com\natural-world predator “Which one’s cuter?.” Carnivora. www.carnivoraforum. March 4, 2015.www.carnivoraforum “Cheetah” Animals Encyclopedia. www.animalia-life.com. March 4, 2015.www.animalia-life.com “Amazing facts about cheetahs.” www.onekind.org. March 4, 2015.www.onekind.org Credits

15. Welsbacher, Anne. Cheetahs. Edina, MN, Abdo, 2000. Sullivan, Jody. Cheetahs: spotted speedsters. Mankato, MN, 2003. The Amazing Cheetah Ecology. Theamazingcheetahecology.weebly.com. March 4, 2015. “Cheetah.” Britannica Animal Kingdom. March 4, 2015. Galleries of Animals. www.animal–kid.com-galleriesofanimals. March 9,2015 Cheetah Families Resting In The Grass Wallpapers. http://www.sampaikini.com/cheetah-families-resting-in-the-grass-wallpapers/http://www.sampaikini.com/cheetah-families-resting-in-the-grass-wallpapers/ March 16, 2015. The Cheetah Orphans. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-cheetah-orphans-a-cheetah-learning-guide/21/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-cheetah-orphans-a-cheetah-learning-guide/21/ March 17, 2015. Some of the above items were accessed through GALILEO.

16. The End