With short bursts up to 70 miles per hour, cheetahs are the fastest mammals on earth!
Ever wonder why football and baseball players paint those black marks below their eyes? They borrowed the idea from cheetahs. Those black tear-shaped streaks help diffuse the sun’s glare.
Some cats purr and some cats roar, but none do both. Lions and tigers roar; cheetahs purr.
Challenges in the Wild
Climate change: Cheetahs face prolonged droughts caused by climate change, and the result is devastating habitat loss.
Human conflict: As the human population expands, contact with cheetahs increases and results in conflict, especially with livestock farmers like goat and cattle ranchers. They sometimes poison cheetahs to keep them from eating their livestock.
Illegal pet trade: Pet cheetahs are status symbols in the Middle East, and increasing demand for them fuels the illegal pet trade.
Dallas Zoo Saving Cheetahs
The Dallas Zoo supports this amazing conservation organization:
We work to help people and cheetahs coexist peacefully in Africa with our partner, the Cheetah Conservation Fund. In Namibia, we support the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned cheetah cubs. Many of these cubs are rescued in route to the Middle East to be sold as prestige pets. The Dallas Zoo is also helping secure rangeland for cheetahs – space to run, hunt, and raise young – by helping fund anti-poaching patrol salaries to keep cheetahs safe.
You Can Help Save Cheetahs in the Wild
Cheetahs are Africa’s most endangered big cat, with a population of less than 7,000 individuals.
Buy a Dallas Zoo membership to help save cheetahs in the wild.
Leave the speeding to the cheetahs, and always drive within the speed limit! Prolonged drought, a consequence of climate change, is directly responsible for the decline in the number and variety of available prey animals for the cheetah. Driving at higher speeds causes engines to work harder and emit more carbon dioxide into the environment, contributing to long-term climate effects.
The majority of the energy that powers our homes comes from fossil fuels, so unplugging electronics reduces your energy demand and carbon emissions, and helps reduce the effects of climate change. Save energy and safeguard cheetah habitats by unplugging electronics after each use!
Climate change: Cheetahs face prolonged droughts caused by climate change, and the result is devastating habitat loss. 
