Reproduction and Life Cycle:
Cheetahs are the fastest land mammals and can reach top speeds of 60 mph, accelerating from 0-60 in four seconds!
They live in the savannas of Africa, and in the grasslands of Asia. Females reach sexual maturity at 2-3 years, and males at 3 years. Mating can take place year-round, but peaks during the rainy season (November to May). Like most cats, cheetahs are mating-induced ovulators, which means that they do not ovulate until after mating has occurred. In order for mating to take place, the female cheetah lays down and raises her rear end in the air, in a position called lordosis. The male cheetah's penis, like all carnivores, has a bone called the baculum, which serves to stimulate the female cheetah's vaginal wall. Also on the male cheetah's penis are tiny backwards facing spines, which are found only in the cat family. They are believed to provide stimulation for ovulation. The act of copulation itself lasts only a minute or two at most. They may mate several times a day, and the oestrus period, or receptive time of the female, lasts up to fourteen days. After a gestation period of 90 - 98 days, she gives birth to 1-3 cubs in a burrow made in thick grass. The cubs weigh 250 - 300 g (8.8 - 10.6 oz) when they are born.
They stay in the burrow for 8 weeks. During this time, the mother moves her cubs constantly to avoid detection by predators. Their first teeth come in at 3-6 weeks of age, and are replaced by adult teeth by 8 months old. Until the cubs are 3 months old, they are covered with a long, fuzzy grey coat, which gradually falls out and their sleek, spotted coats fill in. This unusual coloration is thought to be camouflage for the cubs. Cubs are weaned at 4 months old, but continue to stay with their mother until they are about a year and a half old. During this time they are taught how to hunt. Infant mortality rate is 71% before 2 months, and 95% from two months to 1 year old. The high infant mortality rate is due to starvation, disease, and predation by lions, baboons and hyenas. Those that do survive take 1 1/2 years to mature, and in that time they stick with their mother to learn how to hunt.
She will not breed until her cubs either all leave her or die. Cheetahs can live for up to 15 years in the wild. Social Life: Cheetahs are generally solitary and diurnal (active in the daytime) by nature, but they are actually more social than most felids, except the lion. They are most active during the daytime to aviod conflict with the more nocturnal lion and hyena, which are the cheetah's main enemies besides man. Females are usually found alone escept when she has young, and males live in coalitions of two to five members, trios being the most common. In areas of eastern and southern Africa, where other large predators have been eradicated, cheetahs are often seen in groups of 14 - 19 individuals. The males and females only get together to breed. After conception, the males leave the females and rejoin their coalitions. In these coalitions, the males live and hunt together, protecting one another from lions and hyenas, and providing food for everyone in the coalition, since it is easier to hunt in a group. Coalitions of cheetahs also have better success rates in establishing and maintaining a territory, and finding mates. Sometimes, a small family group consisting of males and females form. They hunt together as well, and are more successful than loners. The practice mutual grooming, which establishes bonds between members of the coalition. All cheetahs, whether they are the members of a coalition, or the lone cheetah, regularly mark off their home ranges with urine. Cheetahs communicate with each other using a variety of sounds. Cheetahs don't meow, but they do chirp and squeak. Mother cheetahs chirp to call their young. They also purr to show contentment and growl to show aggression. Cheetahs also communicate using body language, like other cats. Flattened ears and bared teeth mean aggression, and this is accentuated by white spots on the backs of black ears.
