Portrait of A Sprinter

Cheetahs have long been famed as the fastest, and among the most fascinating, short-distance runners in existence. Scientists believe cheetahs can accelerate from walking speed to about 65 kilometers (40 miles) an hour in less than two seconds and briefly explode to top speeds of 110 kilometers (70 miles) an hour. The cheetah arches and bends its flexible spine as it gathers its long front and hind legs beneath its body, then leaps as far as 7 meters (23 feet)—about five times the length of its body—in a single stride. The cat can sustain its full-speed pursuit for only 200 to 300 meters (220 to 330 yards), a distance equal to about two or three football fields. But that can be far enough to allow the cheetah to overtake swift prey, typically a Thomson's gazelle or other small antelope. The cheetah then knocks the animal to the ground with a forepaw and strangles it with a crushing bite to the throat.

For thousands of years, cheetahs have been prized in royal menageries for their spectacular hunting style, as well as their regal grace and soulful faces, marked by distinctive black lines that curve like a trail of tears from the eyes to the mouth. The structure of cheetahs' windpipes prevents these gentle-looking cats from roaring like lions. Instead, they make sounds described as chirps, stutters, moans, and purrs. Cheetahs can be tamed, and beginning at least 3,000 years ago with the ancient Egyptians, aristocrats commonly trained the cats to hunt just as they trained falcons. A royal chronicle tells how Akbar the Great, who ruled India's Mogul Empire in the A.D. 1500's, captured at least 9,000 cheetahs during his 49-year reign to aid him in hunting deer.