National Geographic Kids USA - May 2017

closer and closer. Then it bursts toward
its target, accelerating so rapidly that its
legs appear to blur. Seeing the cat, the
antelope takes off. It sprints behind a

they know how to hustle. The fastest land

animal, they’ve been clocked going over

60 miles an hour. Naturally, scientists

attributed the cheetah’s hunting success

to its speediness—until recently. Using

top-notch technology to research the

feline’s movements and hunting tech-

niques, scientists found surprising

answers to the question of what makes

the cheetah a first-rate predator.

CUTTING-EDGECOLLARS

In 2012, Alan Wilson of the Royal

Veterinary College in London, England,

launched a project to learn more about

how cheetahs move while hunting. Until

then, scientists had mostly studied the

speed of cheetahs in captivity by using a

car to drag an object such as a stuffed ani-

mal on a rope and watching the big cats

of the world s largest cheetah populations.

Driving across vast plains in search of

the felines, the scientists soon encoun-

tered a 90-pound female ambling along

the grassy terrain. Leaning out the car

window, one team member zapped the cat

with a tranquilizer dart. She dropped to

the ground, going into snooze mode. Then

the scientists hopped out of their car and

got to work. After giving the animal a

checkup, they fitted her with a special

fashion accessory: a tricked-out radio col-

lar. “It was equipped with technology to

monitor her movements,” Wilson says.

The researchers found and placed col-

lars on four other cheetahs. Over the next

18 months, the gadgets sensed when each

cheetah was running(which meant that it

was hunting), then recorded the cat’s

location and speed. The collars could also

BY AVERY ELIZABETH HURT

Scientistsusecutting-edgetechnologytouncoverthechee

cheetah crouches in the grass
ofthe African savanna, observ-
ing an antelope that’s strayed
from its herd. The cat creeps
closerandcloserThenitburststoward

thicket with the cheetah in pursuit. As

they emergefrom the bushes, the chee-

tahcatches up to its prey andpounces.

It’s dinnertime.

Cheetahsareexcellenthunters, and

theyknowhowtohustleThefastestland

chase it. People assumed that the animal’s

swiftness was what allowed it to snag prey

so effectively in the wild. Wilson wanted to

knowfor sure. So he and his team trekked

to Botswana, a country in Africa with onene

oftheworld’slargestcheetahpoppululations

AJUVENILECHEETAH

DASHESACROSSTHE

SAVANNA.

16 MAY 2017

ATLANTIC

OCEA

INDIAN

OCEAN

AFRICA

ASIA

Where

cheetahs

live

MINDENPICTURES(JUVENILESPLAYING);©STEPHENBELCHER/MINDENPICTURES(RUNNING,HEAD-ON);MARTINWALZ(MAP)©ANUPSHAH/NATUREPICTURELIBRARY(RUNNING,SIDEPROFILE);©MICHELANDCHRISTINEDENIS-HUOT/BIOSPHOTO/