Cheetah speed is unmatched by any land animal, and can reach upwards of 70 mph. What makes them so fast? From a physical standpoint, it's easy to see that the cheetah is truly built for speed.
While the cheetah's top speed is more than impressive, it also accelerates at an incredible rate. They can reach 60 mph in less than 3 seconds, much faster than most cars.
On September 10, 2009, the Cincinnati Zoo's eight-year-old female cheetah, Sarah, broke a record, and reportedly became the world's fastest land mammal. She completed a 100 meter sprint in only 6.13 seconds. That was her second attempt, beating her first time of 6.16.
Watch the Youtube video below to see both of Sarah's record breaking runs as she sets the land speed record for the 100m. There's talk of the times being submitted to Guinness World Records.
To anyone who watches any of the shows on cats on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and so on the cheetah speed record for "fastest land animal" (in a sprint) is well known. It's probably also well known that their future as a species is uncertain, and they may face extinction.
What may not be so well known is that cheetahs have been kept as pets and hunting companions. A number of famous figures in history kept cheetahs, including Genghis Khan. Let's not be like him.
All that fast running requires a specialized body. The cheetah has larger nostrils, heart, and lungs in order to facilitate the oxygen needs of all that fast running.
Notice, in the video below, the long legs (cheetahs are very tall cats), the long body, long tail, and the gallop that makes high speed sprinting possible.
Tough paw pads and semi-retractable claws make for better traction while running at "cheetah speed," and the long tail acts as a rudder to aid in turning.
Cheetahs aren't distance runners, like horses, for example. They get up to high speed quickly, run extremely fast, (hopefully) catch their prey, and that's that. They can't even eat their meal right away. They need to cool down first.
Like house cats, cheetahs can purr on both inhalation and exhalation, but do not roar. This makes them technically not big cats, but some have classified them as a small big cat.
