Acheetahcan
cover26feet
inonestride.Thesecats
sometimeschirp
tocommunicate
witheach
other.ah’sbigsecret.
detectwhenthecatsmadeturnsto
changethedirectioninwhichthey
wererunning.
After367runs,thescientistsbegan
analyzingthedatathey’dcollected.They
knewthatthecheetahswerechasing
prey.Ifacat’srunendedwithquick,jerky
movementsandthenmostlystillness,
theycouldtellthatithadwrestledwith
andtakendownitstarget.
Lookingatthecats’speedandthe
pathsinwhichtheyran,thescientistsfig-
uredoutsomethingthatstoppedthemin
theirtracks:Itisn’tjustspeedthat
makesthecheetahatalentedhunter—
it’stheanimal’sabilitytoslowdown
quicklyandmakesharpturns.SMOOTHMOVES
Anantelope,thecheetah’sfavorite
snack,runsinazigzaginanattemptto
loseitspursuer.Butthestudyshowed
that,liketheantelope,thecheetahis
alsoatalentedtwisterthatdoesn’t
simplytravelinastraightline.YOUNGCHEETAH
SIBLINGSPLAYFULLY
CHASEEACHOTHER.ta
Cheetahbrothers
oftenremaintogether
forlife.Afemaleis
usuallysolitaryunless
shehascubs.17
RUNNING
CHEETAHSUSE
THEIRTAILS
TOHELPTHEM
BALANCE.