The Cheetah is the fastest animal in the world

Fastest animal in the world, on land

Cheetahs are the fastest animals in the world on land. A cheetah can run up to 120km/h in a sprint!
Their speed is very important, especially because it’s preferred pray is the gazelle, another really fast animal. To catch up with a meal that is as fast as the wind, the cheetah had to develop the ability to run faster than the gazelle. The alternative would be starvation, so that’s a strong incentive of nature to make cheetah’s the fastest animals alive!

The speed of a cheetah

A cheetah can reach a speed between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mp/h) for short distances covering up to 500 meters (1600 feet) and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds.



Although the cheetah is a fast runner, it can maintain the incredible rate for about 200 to 300 yards/274 meters. Since these high speeds can only be maintained to overcome their prey over short distances, the cheetahs still rely on stealth, sneaking, and the element of surprise to get close enough to the prey to get it down fast enough.

cheetah running

Incoming fun fact search terms:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • StumbleUpon
  • NewsVine