cheetahs

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Why Are Medium-Sized Animals the Fastest? A Theory
Why Are Cheetahs the
Fastest? A Study Explains
NEW STUDY
Mar 13, 2024 4:03 PM CDT

Why Are Cheetahs the Fastest? A Study Explains

They fall in a 'sweet spot' while larger, smaller animals hit muscle limits

(Newser) - Lifespan, strength, and brain size tend to increase with an animal's size, yet speed does not. The largest land animal, the elephant, wouldn't come close to catching the fastest land animal, the cheetah. It's no anomaly. The fastest animals on land, in water, and in air are...

'Aloof' Big Cats Are Partial to Keepers' Voices
Big Cats Are
Like Pet Cats
in One Big Way
in case you missed it
Feb 18, 2024 10:15 AM CST

Big Cats Are Like Pet Cats in One Big Way

Familiar human voices draw longer, more intense responses than unfamiliar ones, researchers show

(Newser) - Domestic cats can tell their owner's voice apart from other humans, and apparently their larger cousins have that same capability, according to new research out of Michigan's Oakland University. In the study published Thursday in the PeerJ—Life and Environment journal, scientists wanted to see if tigers, cheetahs,...

Study Finds New Worry for Endangered Cheetahs
Study Finds New Worry
for Endangered Cheetahs
new study
Nov 8, 2023 2:30 PM CST

Study Finds New Worry for Endangered Cheetahs

They become more nocturnal on hot days, and that could mean less food for them

(Newser) - Cheetahs are usually daytime hunters, but the speedy big cats will shift their activity toward dawn and dusk hours during warmer weather, a new study finds. Unfortunately for endangered cheetahs, that sets them up for more potential conflicts with mostly nocturnal competing predators such as lions and leopards, say the...

One of India's Precious Cheetahs Dies in Mating Attempt

3 of the creatures have now died

(Newser) - India's quest to repopulate its land with cheetahs has hit another snag. As CNN reported last month, the country's reintroduction program brought 20 cheetahs from Africa to India as part of an intercontinental effort to revive the big cat population there. But as the New York Times reports,...

India Brings Back the Only Large Mammal It Has Lost

The country reintroduces cheetahs some 75 years after they were hunted to extinction

(Newser) - Cheetahs were hunted into extinction 75 years ago in India, making them "the only large mammal that India has lost," said a conservation expert in the country. "It is our moral and ethical responsibility to bring them back." On Saturday that responsibility was fulfilled, with eight...

70 Years After Extinction, India Is Bringing Cheetahs Back

The first 8 will arrive from Namibia next month

(Newser) - The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal, but bringing them back to India has been a slow process. The country's native population of cheetahs was declared extinct in 1952 and while efforts to reintroduce them started the same decade, only now are solid plans in place to...

'Very Famous Cheetah' Attacks Zookeeper

She apparently detected the scent of giraffes on keeper at Columbus Zoo

(Newser) - The Columbus Zoo describes Isabelle as an "incredibly well-trained" cheetah—but the instinct to attack was apparently too strong to resist after she encountered a zookeeper who works with giraffes and other hoofstock Thursday. The zoo says the keeper was evaluated at a hospital and released after being attacked...

Cows With 'Butt Eyes' Ward Off Deadly Attacks
Experts Paint Eyes on
Cow Butts—and It Works
in case you missed it
Aug 15, 2020 2:40 PM CDT

Experts Paint Eyes on Cow Butts—and It Works

Researchers find a low-cost way to save cattle in Botswana

(Newser) - Want to save cattle from predatory attacks? First, paint eyeballs on their butts. Then see what happens. That's pretty much the gist of a new study out of Botswana—and it worked, Happy Mag reports. Researchers at the University of South Wales painted the eyes on cow butts to...

3 Cheetahs, 2 Cubs, One 'Big Breakthrough'

Birth via surrogacy allows for greater genetic diversity

(Newser) - Ohio has welcomed two new scientific marvels—the first ever cheetah cubs born via in vitro fertilization. Cheetahs are a vulnerable species, with only 7,500 left in the wild. They also have low genetic diversity owing to a mass die-off about 10,000 years ago. That's made breeding...

World's Fastest Land Animal Is Dwindling Rapidly

There are only 7.1K cheetahs left in the world

(Newser) - The cheetah is rapidly disappearing and risks extinction if urgent measures aren't taken to save the mighty cat. A new report estimates there are only 7,100 of the world's fastest mammals left in the wild, the vast majority of them living outside of protected areas, the BBC...

Mom Who Dropped Kid in Cheetah Pit Is Childcare Worker

Michelle Schwab is an assistant director at KinderCare

(Newser) - The woman accused of dangling and dropping her 2-year-old boy into a zoo's cheetah exhibit is herself a childcare worker, Cleveland.com reports. Michelle Schwab is an assistant director, no less, at KinderCare in Columbus, Ohio, the company's corporate office revealed today. Schwab "is currently home with...

Zoo: Mom Was Dangling Kid Who Fell in Cheetah Pit

Parents could face child endangerment charges

(Newser) - Zoo officials in Cleveland say a woman was dangling her 2-year-old son over a railing when he fell about 10 feet into a cheetah exhibit. "Unfortunately, we have a number of eyewitness accounts that point to the strong likelihood that the child was dangled over the rail," the...

Botswana Prez in 'Freak Accident' —With Cheetah

Ian Khama needed 2 stitches after animal claws him

(Newser) - Peaceful, prosperous, and lightly populated Botswana rarely makes international news—until its president gets clawed in the face by a cheetah. Officials in the African nation say Ian Khama needed two stitches to his nose after the "overexcited" animal kept at an army barracks jumped up and clawed him...

Wild Cheetah May Disappear by 2030

Numbers are plunging as natural habitat shrinks

(Newser) - The number of cheetahs in the wild has been dropping so quickly that wildlife experts think the animal could disappear by 2030, reports AFP . They estimate that maybe 10,000 of the big cats exist, mostly in Africa, down from 100,000 about a century ago. The problem is that...

To Run Like a Cheetah, Get Stronger Thighs

Scientists study the world's fastest mammal

(Newser) - Scientists trying to figure out how cheetahs manage to run faster than any other mammal might have a few tips to pass along to human runners, reports the New York Times' Well blog . For one thing, build up those thighs. The cheetah has powerful upper legs, which allow them to...

Military 'Cheetah' Breaks Robot Sprinting Record

DARPA prototype can go 18mph

(Newser) - Someday, the US may fight wars with an army of creepy robotic cheetahs. That's right, a Pentagon-funded robo-cheetah has been successfully tested, setting a new land-speed record for a machine with legs, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency has announced. The cheetah hit a speed of 18mph, which makes...

Audio Stimulus Gets Cheetahs to Mate

Man-altered bioacoustics work as an aphrodisiac for cheetahs

(Newser) - Man’s ingenuity has altered nature’s rhythms for the better at the San Diego Zoo, where an African cheetah cub was born after zookeepers helped her dad turn on her mom, the North Country Times reports. Park scientists used bioacoustics—human-altered animal sounds—to stimulate mating after they discovered...

Rare Cheetah Spotted in Sahara
 Rare Cheetah Spotted in Sahara 

Feb 26, 2009 3:36 AM CST

Rare Cheetah Spotted in Sahara

Camera-trap snaps 'incredibly elusive' subspecies

(Newser) - An incredibly rare and elusive Saharan cheetah has been caught on camera in the Algerian desert, reports the Daily Telegraph. Fewer than 250 of the animals are believed to exist. Zoological Society of London researchers obtained the camera-trap photos as part of a project to systematically survey life in the...

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