Cheetah fun facts
| Site: | Discovery and Learning |
| Course: | Spot our Cheetah |
| Book: | Cheetah fun facts |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Friday, 24 October 2025, 11:56 PM |
Billy the cheetah
We have one cheetah at Edinburgh Zoo called Billy.
He was born in Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland in 2020.
He joined us in March 2025 where he has settled into his new enclosure.
Champions of Speed
Cheetah are the worlds fastest land mammal reaching maximum speeds of 75mph!
They are apex carnivores which hunt animals such as antelope and warthog.
They have many adaptations to help complete this amazing run.
Cheetahs are not big cats!
Cheetahs are not big cats!
They are part of their own family which is called Acinonyx, making them truly unique.
The big cats of the world are tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards.
One defining feature of a big cat is that they roar.
Cheetahs purr, yelp and growl
Spots and Stripes
Cheetahs are very beautiful cats.
They have between 2000 and 3000 spots all over their golden body. The spots are camouflage helping them to blend in.
They also have stripes on their face to help them to focus on prey.
The king cheetah has a very different appearance where spots blend into stripes. It is not a different species but just looks different due to a recessive gene
Threats
Sadly cheetahs are not doing so well in the wild. They are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN red list.
Cheetahs live in several countries throughout Africa. There is also a small population in Iran.
Their preferred habitat is open grasslands and desert.
Sadly their habitat has shrunk by around 90%
This has resulted in a lack of food and competition with larger predators such as lions.
Shrinking habitat has pushed them into closer proximity with humans, which makes them a target of poachers and the illegal wildlife trade.