Cheetahs

A lone cheetah sits on a termite mound in the grassy African savanna. Her amber eyes spot a herd of gazelles a mile away. Unaware of her presence, they come closer. As one of the fastest land animals in the world, she sprints in their direction at 70 miles per hour and catches one by the windpipe. Dragging the gazelle to the shade, she can relax and enjoy her kill. But with poachers desiring her spotted coat and the booming human population encroaching on her territory, how calm should this endangered cheetah be?

Describes the physical characteristics, life cycle, behavior, and conservation of cheetahs.

A lone cheetah sits on a termite mound in the grassy African savanna. Her amber eyes spot a herd of gazelles a mile away. Unaware of her presence, they come closer. As one of the fastest land animals in the world, she sprints in their direction at 70 miles per hour and catches one by the windpipe. Dragging the gazelle to the shade, she can relax and enjoy her kill. But with poachers desiring her spotted coat and the booming human population encroaching on her territory, how calm should this endangered cheetah be?

Children's Literature

The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. Everything about the cheetah is designed for speed in hunting. With its excellent eyesight, it can spot its prey from a long distance. Its bendable spine allows it to take long sprints, much like releasing a giant spring. If you saw a cheetah sprinting across the ground, it would look more as if it was flying than running. A cheetah shares some characteristics with the common house cat. Cheetahs have one to eight cubs born at a time and this group is called a litter. A mother cheetah will move her new cubs every three to four days, to protect them from predators. A mother cheetah carries her babies by the back of the neck. Cheetahs spend a lot of their day sleeping and grooming. They purr very loudly and their purring can be heard 20 feet away. Unlike housecats, however, cheetahs cannot retract their claws. An excellent source for students in upper elementary and middle school science classes.

Dianne MacMillan, a former elementary-school teacher, is an accomplished author who has published both fiction and nonfiction children's books. She also pens articles for juvenile magazines and regularly visits classrooms to talk with children about her writing experiences.