The cheetah is built for speed. It has long, slim, muscular legs, a small, rounded head set on a long neck, a flexible spine, no retractable claws, special pads on its feet for traction and a long tail for balance. With its speed, the cheetah cannot run at full speed for long distance (100 yards limit). Cheetahs have distinctive black “tear stripes” that connect from the inside corner of each eye to the mouth that may serve as an antiglare device for daytime hunting.

The cheetahs hunting technique has been adapted to suit its speed and agility and unlike many other wild cats it hunts mainly by day. It will follow its prey from a distance, commonly the large herds of gazelle, impala or antelope, selecting old, injured or young animals, who's speed will be impaired. Once selected the cheetah will give chase and with its superior speed, more often than not succeed in bringing down its prey on the first attempt. The cheetahs powerful jaw muscles enable the cat to grip its prey, without pause, for several minutes and it uses this to suffocate its catch by clamping the windpipe. Interestingly, compared to other species of wild cat, the cheetah has enlarged nasal passages which enables it to breathe more easily during this final phase of the kill. Once the kill has been made the cheetah however will often pause to regain its strength before eating - at this time the cheetah itself is vulnerable and can often lose its prey to packs of hyenas or to other scavengers of the open plains. The cheetah will hunt alone or in family groups, usually comprising of adult male relatives - such groups usually have much larger territories than the lone female hunter who must stay close to here young. Cheetah cubs, born between 2 and 4 to the litter, have a poor survival rate, commonly falling prey to lions or pack of hyenas. After approximately 18 month following and learning from their mother, the young cheetah is ready to fend for itself.

"Cheetah" comes from a Hindi word meaning "spotted one." Two groups exist in wild populations: the family group and males. Males, often siblings, form a group of 2 or 3; rarely 1 will live alone. This group will live and hunt together for life and claims a range which may overlap several female territories. Male territories may be as large as 300 square miles. Young females, however, usually occupy the same range as their mother although all females are solitary except when they have a litter.

Males and females mix only to mate; the males do not participate in cub-raising. Following a gestation period about 93 days a litter may contain 2 to 8 cubs. At birth cubs are about 12 inches long and weigh about 0.6 pounds. They are gray color with a mantle of hair along the back, which helps camouflage the cub in grass, but it begins to disappear at 3 months. Only a small number reach adulthood: lions and hyenas are their worst enemies. The mother moves the cubs every few days to avoid those predators. The young stay with the mother for 16-24 months.

Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land - able to reach speeds of up to 80 miles per hour for short bursts. They use their speed for hunting instead of relying on stealth and strength like many other species of big cats. The cheetah is carnivorous, eating a variety of small animals. While most cats are nocturnal predators, the cheetah is diurnal, hunting in early morning and late afternoon. It likes to scan the countryside from a tree or the top of a hill because the cheetah is dependant on sight rather than smell. The cheetah chases its prey for about 3.5 miles at an average speed of 45 miles per hour. The stalk is as important as the sprint; usually it will try to get within 50 yards of its prey before the final acceleration. Full sprints last about 20 seconds and almost never exceed 1 full minute. The cheetah suffocates its captive, closing its jaw about the animals windpipe and squeezing until its dead. At 6 weeks the young are strong enough to participate with the hunt.