Cheetah

The Smithsonian's National Zoo reports top speeds of 60 to 70 mph, held for sprints of about 20 seconds. Conservationists point out that GPS collars on wild cheetahs in Botswana never logged more than 93 km/h (58 mph), so the true maximum is still not pinned down.

Treat any single top-speed number for cheetahs as approximate.

Context

A cheetah is built for acceleration rather than endurance. It has a lightweight frame, a flexible spine, long legs, large nostrils and lungs, and semi-retractable claws that act like running spikes, while its long tail helps it steer and balance through sharp turns. Chases usually end within a few hundred metres, after which the animal must rest and recover because its body heats up quickly.

Measuring true top speed is hard. Captive animals on a track are timed over a set distance, and a well-known 2012 run by a cheetah named Sarah at the Cincinnati Zoo was reported at roughly 61 mph over 100 metres. Wild animals are harder to record, which is why the GPS-collar work in Botswana matters: it shows what free-ranging cheetahs actually do, and the highest logged speed there fell below the older, popular figures of 70 mph and above.

The cheetah is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, with a wild population often put at around 7,000 adults, and it has vanished from much of its historic range in Africa and Asia. Habitat loss, conflict with livestock owners and a shrinking prey base are the main pressures, so the animal that holds the speed title is also one of the more threatened big cats.