EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Each week a different image of our fascinating environment is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional ecologist.

  31 March - 6 April 2008

Click on image for larger version

Fastest Cat in Repose

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Masai Mara, Kenya

Credit & Copyright: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

Explanation:  Taking some time for a sitting rest is this cheetah in a vast grassland of southern Kenya, east Africa.  

Often referred to as the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah can occasionally reach a top speed of 70 mph (112 kph).  However, its sprints are short-lived, usually lasting only 300 yards before it overheats and reaches oxygen debt and is forced to stop.  They can be described as ambush-dash hunters.

Studies have shown a lack of genetic diversity among cheetahs, signaling that the species went through some historic bottleneck, perhaps at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago.  Some sources suggest that all living cheetahs might even have descended from a single female.  

Cheetah conservation is a concern for many, and a number of funds and programs have been established.

 

Next week's picture:  Solitary Serval on the Hunt


< Previous ... | Archive | Index | Location | Search | About EPOW | ... Next >


Google Earth locations

shows all EPOW locations;
must have
Google Earth installed
 

Author & Webmaster: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot, Tom Bruce
Disclaimers and Legal Statements
Original material on Ecology Picture of the Week © Bruce G. Marcot

Member Theme of  Taos-Telecommunity