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    Endangered Species: The Cheetah

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    Lissette Echeverria
    The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal and can run up to 70 miles per hour. Cheetahs have distinctive black spots covering their fur and black streaks on their cheeks. They live in grasslands in Africa and Iran, with the largest populations in southern Africa totaling between 7,000 to 10,000 cheetahs. The cheetah population has declined sharply due to hunting and loss of habitat, dropping from 28,000 in the 1950s to half that number within 20 years. Conservation efforts include protected reserves and introducing cheetahs to new wilderness areas with few predators.

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    Endangered Species: The Cheetah

    Uploaded by

    Lissette Echeverria
    94 views2 pages
    The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal and can run up to 70 miles per hour. Cheetahs have distinctive black spots covering their fur and black streaks on their cheeks. They live in grasslands in Africa and Iran, with the largest populations in southern Africa totaling between 7,000 to 10,000 cheetahs. The cheetah population has declined sharply due to hunting and loss of habitat, dropping from 28,000 in the 1950s to half that number within 20 years. Conservation efforts include protected reserves and introducing cheetahs to new wilderness areas with few predators.

    Original Title

    Cheetah Newsela

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    The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal and can run up to 70 miles per hour. Cheetahs have distinctive black spots covering their fur and black streaks on their cheeks. They live in grasslands in Africa and Iran, with the largest populations in southern Africa totaling between 7,000 to 10,000 cheetahs. The cheetah population has declined sharply due to hunting and loss of habitat, dropping from 28,000 in the 1950s to half that number within 20 years. Conservation efforts include protected reserves and introducing cheetahs to new wilderness areas with few predators.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    94 views2 pages

    Endangered Species: The Cheetah

    Uploaded by

    Lissette Echeverria
    The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal and can run up to 70 miles per hour. Cheetahs have distinctive black spots covering their fur and black streaks on their cheeks. They live in grasslands in Africa and Iran, with the largest populations in southern Africa totaling between 7,000 to 10,000 cheetahs. The cheetah population has declined sharply due to hunting and loss of habitat, dropping from 28,000 in the 1950s to half that number within 20 years. Conservation efforts include protected reserves and introducing cheetahs to new wilderness areas with few predators.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Endangered Species: The cheetah

    By Gale, Cengage Learning, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.05.18


    Word Count 524
    Level 680L

    Image 1: Cheetahs are famous for their round, black spots, which help them to hide in the tall grass where they live. Photo from: Wikimedia
    Commons.

    The name cheetah comes from the Hindi word chita. It means "spotted one." Round black spots
    cover the cheetah's fur. A black streak runs down each cheek. An average cheetah measures about
    4.5 to 5 feet long. It stands between 27 and 34 inches high at its shoulder. It weighs between 80
    and 145 pounds.

    Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal. They can run at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour.
    However, cheetahs do not just rely on raw speed. Instead, they use their agility to catch prey. Their
    long tails help them balance their weight. This allows the cheetah to quickly change direction.

    Unlike other cats, a cheetah cannot draw its claws in. The claws dig into the ground as the cheetah
    runs. This helps to give it more speed. Other large cats, such as tigers, like to surprise their prey.
    But cheetahs prefer to chase down their prey. This uses up a lot of energy. Cheetahs often need a
    rest before they can eat their kill. They cannot wait too long, though. If they do, other carnivores
    will try to steal it. Common cheetah prey includes gazelles, wildebeests and antelope.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.


    Male cheetahs often live in groups with their brothers.
    Females live alone. They join the males only when it is
    time to mate. After a pregnancy period of 90 to 95
    days, a female cheetah gives birth to cubs. There may
    be one to five cubs in a litter. The mother nurses them
    for two months. Once the cubs are about 6 months
    old, the mother will bring small, live prey to them.
    This helps the cubs develop their hunting skills.

    Habitat

    Cheetahs prefer to live in flat grasslands. These areas are known as savannas. Cheetahs now are
    found only in Africa, except for a small population in Iran. The largest number of cheetahs is
    found in southern Africa. Scientists believe the total population ranges from 7,000 to 10,000. In
    Iran, the population numbers between 60 and 100.

    History And Conservation

    Cheetahs once ranged over Africa, the Middle East


    and India. In the 1950s, the world cheetah population
    was believed to be 28,000. Within 20 years, that
    number was cut in half.

    The main causes of this decline are hunting and loss


    of land. In most countries, cheetahs are protected. But
    poachers still hunt them for their fur. Farmers also
    kill cheetahs, believing the animals might harm their livestock. Also, wild grassland is increasingly
    being turned into farmland. This has left cheetahs with less space to live. That makes it more
    difficult for them to hunt.

    In Africa, reserves have been set up to help animals such as cheetahs. These are protected areas
    where the animals can live in peace. They are not perfect, though. Cheetahs living here have to
    compete with other predators. Some African countries have tried to introduce cheetahs into new
    wilderness areas. In these spaces, the cheetahs would face few predators.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

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