National Geographic Kids USA - May 2017

THEFELINE

HASPOWERFUL

SHOULDER

MUSCLESTHAT

HELPITCRANK

UPITSSPEED.

AND

THEY’RE

OFF!

Inaracebetweendifferent

speciesoflandanimals,

cheetahswouldtotallywin.

Herearesomecrittersthat’d

comeinclosebehind.Check

outhowfastthey

cango.

Thecat’slarge

noseletsin

plentyofair,

whichhelpsit

quicklyrecover

fromasprint.

ACHEETAH’S

CLAWSSTICK

OUTALLTHE

TIME.

TRY ONLINE

April19-26.

natgeokids.com/may

TRTRYONLINE

BOOK!

Afterspottinganantelope,thecat

incheswithinstrikingdistanceandthen

eruptstowarditstarget.Theantelope

flees,windingacrosstheground.When

thechargingcheetahseesitsprey

changecourse,thefelineslowsdown,

makesatightturn,andspeedsoffinthe

samedirection—allwithinseconds.

“Weknowthatcheetahsareincredibly

athletic,”saysresearcherTatjanaHubel,

whoworkedonWilson’steam.Butscien-

tistshadnoideathecatscoulddecrease

theirpacesoquickly,whichallowsthem

toswervewithoutskidding.Theyalso

didn’trealizethattheirturningradius,or

abilitytocurve,wassotight.It’ssimilar

tothesharpturnsaproskiercanmake

asheorshezigzagsdownaslope.“This

maneuverabilityiswhatreallymakesa

difference,”Wilsonsays.“Withoutthese

skills,thecatswouldn’tbeabletokeep

upwithweavingpreyaswellastheydo.”

Cheetahsstarttodeveloptheirmoves

ascubs.Bytwomonthsofage,siblings

spendmuchofthedayplayfullychasing

anddodgingeachother,whichhelpsthem

practicetheirturningskills.Andwith

clawsthatactlikerunningcleatsanda

longtailtokeepthembalanced,achee-

tah’sbodyisbuiltformakingdifficult

hairpinturns.Allofthismakesthechee-

tahachampionpredator.

CATSTRATEGY

Althoughcheetahsareexcellenthunters,

they’rethreatened.Onlyupto7,000exist

inthewild.ButWilson’sfindsmighthelp.

“Ourresearchalsotellsuswherethese

catsaremostsuccessfulathunting,”

Wilsonsays.Thecatsinthestudymostly

didwellonflat,opengrassland.Thisdata

canhelpconservationistscreatenature

reserveswherecheetahscanthrive.

Itturnsoutthatcheetahshavemore

tricksthanjustspeed.Andnowhumans

havemoretrickstoprotectthesecats.

COLLARCONNECTION
Thehigh-techcollarsusedbyAlanWilson’steamhadaccelerometers
tomeasureincreasesanddecreasesinthefeline’sspeed,gyro-
scopesthatcouldsensewhenacheetahtwistedorturnedtochange
direction,andGPStoallowthescientiststopinpointthefelines’
exactlocationonthesavanna.

REDFOX: 30 MPH

TTHHE

18 MAY 2017

©SUZIESZTERHAS/MINDENPICTURES(RUNNINGWITHARMEXTENDED,CLAWS,CUDDLYCUB);ROYALVETERINARYCOLLEGE,UNIVERSITYOFLONDON(COLLAR);©ANDYROUSE/NPL/MINDENPICTURES(HUNTINGWITHFAMILY,ROLLINGONGROUND);CHRISWARE(GRAPHIC)