Where Do Cheetahs Live?

Of all large cats in the wild, the cheetah is by far the fastest. The cheetah can reach 70 mph at a full run when in pursuit of prey. It can spot a potential animal for dinner and be upon it before the animal even realizes it is in danger. Its speed is also its defense against other predators since it has small teeth and rather weak jaws.

Where Cheetahs Live

Many large cats use stealth to lay in wait for their prey to approach within striking distance. The cheetah, however, isn’t concerned about drawing its prey in close. It can outrun its prey on the open space of the plains, so it hunts differently. Based on their hunting style and methods, the cheetahs prefer to populate areas that provide a large enough area to run down their prey and an area that is attractive to their preferred food sources. The gazelle, springbok and impala are the preferred diet of the cheetah. If they hunt as a group, they may also go after a baby zebra.

Cheetah Habitats

In times past, the cheetah population was spread through Africa, the Middle East and most of Asia. Today, however, most of the remaining cheetahs live in the southern part of Africa. There are a few small groups that live in the northern part of Africa and another very small population that live in Iran. They are on the brink of extinction in Iran, but scientists and conservationists are working hard to keep that from occurring. The largest population of cheetahs is in Namibia and Botswana, with the second largest being located in Kenya and Tanzania.

The cheetah is very adaptable to the region in which it lives. Grasslands, savannahs and mountains all offer the cheetah a place to live and hunt. While these are all workable habitats for the cheetah, they prefer semi-desert environments with lots of ground cover and open ground. This is so they can leap out at their prey and chase it across open ground. They will catch the prey when there is nothing but a contest of speed.

The cheetah is not an aggressive animal and relies on its speed to deal with situations of danger. It is built to respond to threats in a flight rather than fight response. The cheetahs speed serves it well in all situations. In the past, the cheetah was even used as a hunting animal for the aristocracy. They would capture a cheetah from the wild and train it to hunt antelopes much as is done today with greyhounds.

Threats to the Cheetah Population

Some of the biggest threats to the continuation of the species come from man. Desertification of its habitat reduces the available area for it to live and to hunt in. Increased population of the region is also serving to reduce the cheetah’s habitat. Introduction of agriculture and livestock in the region around where the cheetah hunts is reducing the prey that it feeds upon. When there is no grazing available, the prey goes elsewhere and the cheetah must leave.

Added reasons for the declining populations include the hunting of the prey animals, both legally and through poaching. As the population of the prey declines, so does the number of cheetah that the region can support.

Poachers pose a severe threat to the survival of the cheetah populations. Some countries, such as Iran, have no laws restricting hunting in the deserts so the problem is worse there.

With the cheetah on the brink of extinction, many projects are underway to repopulate areas where cheetahs live to promote the growth of cheetah populations in the wild. India is also taking steps to breed cheetahs in captivity and then release back into the wild. The Iranian and Russian conservationists are even discussing the idea of attempting to breed the cheetah and the Amur Tiger, which is similar to the extinct Caspian Tiger, to repopulate the regions with both species.