supreme sprinters Assignment PDF

Today we are going to talk about the supreme sprinters, in the sea of speeding bodies, with their
incredible legs and amazing stamina. Life for some animals is literally a race, to stay alive they have to
run the fastest, they have to keep running for the longest and they must have some extra tricks they
must do it every day and many times a day just to stay alive. The one wins who runs fast like a wind. One
gold medal sprinter is way ahead of the rest every detail of his body is built for speed, we are taking
about the cheetah. These big cats can outrun all the animals with their slim and light body with long legs
built for sprinting.
Habitat and distribution
Cheetahs are less selective in habitat selection than other animals. They inhabit a diverse variety of
ecosystems, like the areas having the greater availability of food(prey), vast open areas having good
visibility. They prefer those areas in which they have minimum chances to encounter the larger
predators. They rarely live in tropical forests. It has been reported that cheetahs are even found at the
elevations of 4,000 meter high.
Open areas having some cover, like bushes, tall grasses are ideal for cheetah because they are best
suitable for his niche. He needs to stalk and chase its prey from a distance. Initially, cheetahs were likely
to be seen across Asian and African continents, but now they are limited up to dry and open grasslands
of the Sub-Saharan areas of Africa. Cheetahs living in southern and eastern Africa are most likely to
occur in savannas regions like the Serengeti and Kalahari. In northern, western and central Africa
cheetahs live in the arid mountain valleys. In the harsh and hot climate of the Sahara, the cheetahs go to
high mountains, with more rainfall probability than the surrounding desert.
1. Speed
The cheetah can accelerate to 75 kilometers an hour in just less than two seconds. Soon he reaches his
top speed of 120. This speed is faster than the sports car acceleration.
Cheetah’s body is made for high sprints, his extended spine, with the long legs, specially designed claws
for the grip on ground and it’s long tail which assist him for balance. Such mega high-speed sprinting
consumes a lot of energy, so the cheetah sprinting chase is limited up to 200m to 300m, and this is race
is less than one minute. When cheetah is at it’s full speed during the chase, it covers almost 21 feets
with each stride. You won’t believe this, that their feet touch the ground only just two times in the each
stride.
Do you know;
In the year 2012, in Cincinnati Zoo an eleven years old cheetah broke all the records, and covered 100
meters with the highest speed of 61 mph in just 5.95 seconds. Olympian Usain Bolt, who holds the
(human) world record, is much slower by comparison: 100 meters in 9.58 seconds.
2. Cheetah after the chase
Cheetahs are extremely fast animals, but they get tired very quickly. They can only keep up their top
speed for just one to two minutes. After that they get too tired to continue. Cheetah after chasing its
prey, needs almost 30 minutes to recover its breath before starting eating. During chase, he is taking

nearly 150 breaths in one minute and that’s why its body temperature reaches 40 degrees. So, he takes
rest for half an hour to recover himself and get himself ready to hunt again.
3. Their Eyes Help Them Hunt
Cheetahs hunt by sight, their eyes provide them a long and wide-angle view in the field and they have
very sharp vision. They have a natural beautiful eyeliner, that has a great purpose. These black tear
marks avert the reflected sunlight from entering in his eyes. Their amazing eyesight works more
effectively during the day time. cheetah can spot its prey from 5 km away in day time. But without the
sun's glare, cheetah are unable to target their prey.
Unlike most other big cats, cheetahs hunt in the daytime. They climb a termite mound or small hill and
use their sharp vision to locate prey – then it's off to the races. The cheetah uses its lightning speed to go
careening after its dinner, knocking the prey to the ground and then latching on to its throat. the
cheetah has a 50 50 chance of victory cheetahs kill by suffocating the prey with a firm bite on the neck.
4.Oversized heart and lungs;
Cheetahs have oversized heart and lungs so he can effectively get oxygen into his high-power muscles.
Even his nostrils are bigger, so he can suck in more air.
5. Elongated tail of cheetah;
They have a long muscular tail, in a flat shape that aids them for balancing and steering. This long tail is
like a rudder, so he can make sharp turns in the chase. Cheetah uses his tail to steer himself while
chasing his prey.
at the top of the athletic table the speedsters are truly breathtaking animals faster than cars more
maneuverable than a gymnast and with more clever moves than a dancer these are the supreme
athletes perfectly evolved to win their races every day in the wild
6. Origin;
The cheetah is having the home on the land of African plains, but they started migrating almost 100,000
years ago from the North America towards Africa. The researchers told, that this migration from North
America to Africa was proven very costly for cheetah, this triggered the major reduction in their
genepool. This migration occurred through the Beringian land bridge. These cats moved southward into
the Africa.
7. Cheetahs Don’t Roar, They Meow and Purr
It is very astonishing that these wild cats do not roar like the other four big cats lions and leopards,
tigers. Jaguars, which are well-known for the ferocious roars. There is nothing scary and terrible about
the noises they make. When they feel threatened and helpless, they make a chirping noise and they use
to purr when they feel happy. Isn’t that cute? Cheetahs Don’t Roar, They Meow and Purr. You can say
cheetahs sound more like an average house cat

8. The life expectancy.
Cheetahs have a life span of 7 to 10 years in the wild and but 16 years in the captivity. But the average
lifespan of the adult male leopards in the wild is lower and is almost 8 years, due to the territorial
conflicts with the other males. And the Adult mortality is the biggest limiting factor for their the growth
and survival in the wild.
9. Height and weight of leopard
Leopard body grows between 1.1m and 1.4m in length, their tail adds up to 65cm to 80cm into their
length. Their average weight lies between 34kg to 64kg, males being slightly heavier.
10. Cheetahs Have the Natural Camouflage
Cheetahs have a pale-yellow coat with the dark black dots on their upper part of skin, and white on their
underbelly. These spotted coats, help them to blend in with their surroundings environment. This not
only helps them to hide while stalking the prey, but this also keeps them safe from their predators.
Do you know
These dark spots are not just on their fur. Their skin also has these black spots.
What you think how many spots are there on cheetahs?
Cheetahs have between 2,000 and 3,000 spots on their skin.
Moreover, to these black spots, cheetah cubs have a full mohawk body, called mantle. This long hair
runs from neck down to their back, up to the end of their tail. Mantle helps them blend into tall grasses.
This camouflage keeps them safe from the predators like lions and hyenas.
Social or solidary animals,
Usually cheetahs are found in groups, consisting of either a mother and her cubs, or young siblings
because they stay together for almost six months after they leave their mother or the cheetahs are
found in the coalition of males to hunt and live together. Coalition is basically is a small family of 2 to 3
brothers cheetahs.
But the adult females, are solo creatures, they are seen to be solitary, they live alone and only meet the
male cheetahs at the time of mating or sticks with their cubs for raising them. So, one could say,
cheetahs are neither solitary nor social but they are little of both.
11. Female Cheetah and Her Cubs
Male cheetahs do not stay with females after the mating. They do not play any role in nurturing their
cubs. On the other hand, Female cheetahs are caring, loving and devoted mothers. After the pregnancy
time of 3 months, female cheetahs give birth to litter of 2 to 8 cubs in a sheltered and isolated spot such
as a rocky ridge or the marshy areas or in a lair, hidden by tall grasses and vegetation so, predators don’t
attack them. Cubs have a lot to learn from their mothers, she stays with them, to teach everything she
like stalking, hunting, catching and killing. When the cubs get 16 to 24 months old, they leave their
mother and are now able to take care of themselves. Then these males will stay together for life.