What color is a cheetah? The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large felid that inhabits most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is famous for its incredible speed, reaching up to 75 mph (120 km/h). This makes it the fastest land animal in the world.
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and black tear-like facial streaks.
It reaches 67-94 cm (26-37 in) at the shoulder, and the head-and-body length is between 1.1 and 1.5 m (3 ft 7 in and 4 ft 11 in. Always free of charge, the Smithsonian's National Zoo is one of Washington D.C.'s, and the Smithsonian's, most popular tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors from all over the world each year. The Zoo instills a lifelong commitment to conservation through engaging experiences with animals and the people working to save them.
Learn about cheetahs from Cheetah Conservation Fund. CCF has the world's leading experts on cheetahs including our founder Dr. Laurie Marker.
The Cheetah is an animal that has a long and slender body that is covered in coarse yellowish fur and dotted with small black spots. Its long tail helps with balance and changing direction quickly and unlike the rest of the Cheetah's body, there are ringed markings along the tail which ends in a black tip. Cheetahs are a light tan color, and their coats are characterized by their all-over black spots.
It is this spotted coat and the cheetah's smaller size, including its small ears and head and its tear-shaped stripes that run all the way from the cheetah's eye to the side of its nose, that distinguish it from the other cats in the big cat family. The color of a cheetah can vary slightly based on its subspecies and habitat, but overall, the combination of the light base color and black spots is what makes the cheetah easily recognizable. These adaptations have evolved to help them stay stealthy when stalking prey.
Cheetah facts: learn all about these felines with facts about the cheetah's habitat, diet, behaviour, range, characteristics and top speed! Based on an usual color variation, an additional cheetah species was described in 1927 - A. rex, or the king cheetah. The species was based upon cheetahs that were found to have longer, softer hair and replacement of some spotted patterns with dark bars.
The patterns and colors of a cheetah's coat are not random; they have evolved for a variety of purposes, much to the interest of animal lovers, educators, and veterinarians alike. In this article, we will embark on a deep exploration of the complexities surrounding cheetah coloration.