THE CHEETAH OR HUNTING LEOPARD 
CYNCELURUS JUBATUS 
I N general appearance the cheetah differs very markedly from the true 
cats. In the first place, its claws are only partially retractile, and in 
shape more nearly resemble those of a dog than those of a cat. The 
body, too, is more slender, and the legs are longer and less muscular 
than in any true cat, whilst the canine teeth, if compared with those 
of a leopard, will be seen to be singularly small. The shape, too, of the 
skull in the cheetah is very different from that of a lion or leopard. 
The cheetah is found throughout Africa in all open or thinly forested 
districts, from the Cape Colony to Abyssinia, and from Somaliland to 
Senegambia, but is never met with in mountainous regions, nor in tracts 
of country covered with dense bush or heavy forest. Unlike most predatory 
animals, the cheetah hunts by sight rather than by scent, and frequents 
districts where long views are obtainable. Having sighted their prey, 
cheetahs then proceed to stalk it up -wind, taking advantage of every tuft of 
grass or bush to conceal their approach. When sufficiently near, they rush 
in at a tremendous speed, and, fastening their teeth in the throat of their 
victim, bear it to the ground and never relax their hold until life is extinct. 
There can be no doubt that for a short distance the speed of the cheetah 
surpasses that of any of the antelopes on which it preys, but there is ample 
evidence that this great speed cannot be maintained for any long distance. 
In South Africa only a few cases of cheetahs having been ridden down on 
horseback are on record, and it has been thought that such incidents 
were probably due to the fact that these particular animals had just made 
a heavy meal and were therefore in no condition for running. But the more 
recent experiences of many sportsmen on the open plains of British East 
Africa proves conclusively that, given good galloping ground devoid of 
cover, a horse can overtake a cheetah without any great difficulty, in spite 
of the fact that for the first few hundred yards the speed of the latter 
animal is far greater than that of the former. The cheetah, in fact, though 
incomparably swift for a short distance, is deficient in staying power. 
I may mention in this connexion that Mr Kermit Roosevelt, when in East 
Africa with his distinguished father in 1910, rode down and shot no fewer 
than seven cheetahs. I have myself ridden down cheetahs on two occasions 
in South Africa, and in neither case did the chase last more than a few 
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