Compared to a mom with cubs, How Much Do Cheetahs Eat Per Day? An adult may hunt every two to five days. Each day, an adult cheetah consumes roughly 6.2 lbs (2.8 kg) of meat. Cheetahs rarely consume alcohol; they typically consume one drink every four days and maybe just one drink every ten.
The majority of endeavours fail. However, if the cheetah makes contact, it knocks the prey to the ground and rams its tiny upper canines into the animal’s throat, killing it by strangulation or suffocation.
Cheetahs tend to rest through the hottest part of the day, focusing their hunts in the late morning and early afternoon, in contrast to other large carnivores in their area. This tactic could reduce conflict and rivalry between cheetahs and other powerful predators like lions and hyenas.
A cheetah may try to drag its prey to a hiding place first before eating it. Unlike other African predators, cheetahs rarely scavenge dead animals they did not kill. A cheetah must frequently consume its prey rapidly or leave to avoid confrontations because lions, hyenas, and even vultures will drive them away from their kill.
How Much Do Cheetahs Eat Per Day?
Predators like cheetahs don’t eat as much as people do each day. Hunting is tough, and cheetahs only have a small window of opportunity before the larger predators of the savanna emerge at dusk.
A cheetah may go without eating entirely on some days or only consume a small mammal on others. Maybe one day, the cheetah kills an impala or gazelle, but the kill is taken by a pack of hyenas or a large group of vultures, so it doesn’t get to eat much.
Exploring The Cheetahs Diet
Since cheetahs aren’t giant creatures, most of their food consists of gazelles, impala, and springbok, small to medium-sized prey. These ungulates typically weigh 20 to 60 kilograms, with larger species typically being avoided because they are more challenging to take down.
Additionally present are duikers, other antelope species, and the young of more giant animals, including kudu, oryx, hartebeest, and warthogs. While Asiatic cheetahs prey on goitered gazelle, wild goats, and chinkara, they also hunt game birds and rabbits.
Although less frequent, the swift carnivores will also eat foxes, guinea fowl, buffalo, wildebeest, and ostrich if the occasion arises. They frequently go after more giant creatures when hunting in packs; this is something they wouldn’t do if they were out in the savannah by themselves. Cheetahs rarely turn to scavenge and eat carrion, much preferring to devour freshly slain prey. They only consume a few little tufts of grass when they are experiencing digestive problems.
How Often Do Cheetahs Eat?
Female cheetahs with cubs often hunt and eat every day so that they can provide adequate food for themselves and their young. In contrast, lone adult cheetahs typically hunt and eat every two to five days.
Cheetahs are exceptionally successful hunters and are particularly skilled at taking down Thomson’s gazelle and other tiny prey. However, these changes are based on the age, sex, and quantity of cheetahs engaged in the hunt. Unsurprisingly, mothers with cubs are typically the finest hunters.
A cheetah usually waits between five minutes and an hour after killing its victim because it has to relax and catch its breath. Other cheetahs in the pack start eating the new meat in the interim. But they must all exercise caution because lions, hyenas, and even vultures may swoop in and capture their prey. It’s ironic that cheetahs rarely drink more than once every four days, much less frequently than they consume food. They even occasionally skip drinking for up to 10 days.
How Do Cheetahs Hunt?
Cheetahs don’t ambush their victims or wait until they are close enough to pounce on them like the majority of other cat species do. Instead, they use their astonishing speed to pursue and tackle their intended prey to the ground.
Cheetahs typically survey their surroundings for potential prey when hiding in the woods or foliage because they hunt using their vision rather than their senses of smell and scent. Once they have locked onto an unwary animal, they stalk it slowly, or if the animal is already in range, they instantly begin to pursue it.
Most chases take little more than a minute and start when the quarry is between 70 and 100 meters away from the cheetah. Most last roughly 20 seconds, during which cheetahs travel 170 meters on average. They could become worn out, and the prey escapes if they go further.
Cheetahs can run seven meters in a single stride when pursuing an antelope or gazelle, moving at a remarkable rate of speed. Once they’ve located their prey, they trip or tackle the victim to the ground before biting into their throat to either suffocate or kill them instantly. Cheetahs can hunt by themselves or in packs to take down giant games with coordinated attacks and share the rewards of the hunt.
When Do Cheetahs Hunt?
Cheetahs often hunt during the day to avoid conflict and competition with these ferocious predators because other large carnivores, including leopards and lions, are most active at night. Because they prevent the intense heat of midday, when they typically rest and relax in the shade of trees, hunters prefer to hunt at dawn and twilight.
However, they continue to watch out for predators and prey throughout the day, and if the proper time arises, they will go for a deer or an impala. Cheetahs are known to travel over 11 kilometers in a single day in quest of their next meal when food is scarce in an area.
Cheetahs frequently alter their behavior and hunt more at night when they are the only predators in a region and are not challenged by lions and leopards. This also occurs when the heat reaches dangerously high degrees in highly arid areas like the Sahara. Some cheetahs also hunt more at night when the moonlight helps them see their prey more clearly.
What Do Cheetah Cubs Eat?
Young cheetah cubs are highly vulnerable from birth because they lack teeth, are toothless, and are defenceless. They depend on their moms for the first few weeks of their life. For at least the first several months, she hides them in thick foliage or a secretive den, nursing them with her fatty, nutrient-rich milk until they are between four and six months old.
She now begins weaning the cubs and acclimates them to eating little amounts of meat. The mother then starts showing them how to hunt by showing them how to crouch, stalk, spring, and kill prey. She occasionally even brings back a real animal so they can practice on it. Although they initially have trouble catching hares and small gazelles by themselves, their success rate rapidly rises as they get older, stronger, and faster. The young cheetahs are typically totally autonomous and capable of surviving in the wild by the time they are 20 months old.
To Conclude
It’s interesting How Much Do Cheetahs Eat Per Day? In summary, cheetahs typically consume 2-3 KG of meat daily. Water consumption is sufficient for them once every three days. They can consume up to 10 KG of meat on a hunting day if they have had a successful hunt. This helps them maintain and replenish their vitality.
Cheetahs typically prey on smaller animals, but when hunting in packs, they are capable of taking down zebra-sized prey. However, even when hunting in gangs, they avoid going for more robust and giant creatures like lions, tigers, giraffes, or elephants.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do cheetahs hunt?
Cheetahs primarily hunt in the morning and late afternoon, as opposed to most cats, which are nocturnal predators. They mostly hunt by sight, perched atop termite mounds or kopjes, which are small, rocky hills, and surveying the surrounding area. A cheetah will creep up on its prey after spotting it before making its last run. A cheetah’s mouth forms a powerful, vise-like grip on its prey’s windpipe, suffocating it if it successfully captures it.
What do cheetahs eat?
These carnivores consume the young of larger animals, including warthogs, kudu, hartebeest, oryx, roan, and sable, as well as tiny antelope like springbok, steenbok, duikers, impala, and gazelles. Cheetahs also pursue rabbits and game birds. A cheetah must consume its kill rapidly since other animals, such as lions, hyenas, or even swarms of vultures, may try to push it away from its prey.
Why do cheetahs have spots?
Nearly all of a cheetah’s body is covered in spots, which can act as camouflage by contrasting shadows in the gray-hued grasses they live in. Both pursuing prey and defending cheetah kittens from predators require the use of masks. A cheetah’s spots and the ring pattern on its tail are distinctive, just like a person’s fingerprint!
How many cheetahs are left in the world today?
Only 7,500 to 10,000 cheetahs are thought to still exist in the wild, having vanished from 89 percent of their original territory across Africa.
