| Endangered Species: Cheetah |
Submitted by:007, Grade 5
Christiansburg Elementary
Christiansburg, VA, USA
 |
| Cheetah |
Why Study This Topic?
My animal is the cheetah. I
want to find out as much information as I can, because the more information
I have, the more I will know about my animal, the cheetah.
One thing I want to know about is what kind of
food it eats, and what it uses for shelter and things like that. I already
know that the cheetah has a lot of spots on its' body. I also know that
the cheetah can run up to 70 mph. and sometimes faster.
I really want to know what it's enemies are.
I think that in some areas where there is really tall grass and weeds and
there is a herd of zebra's around the cheetah will look around while its'
down in the grass and it will chase after the zebras and try to catch one
of them, so it can eat the zebra.
Those are the only things I know about it, because
I need to get on a computer to find out some information about the cheetah.
What Was Already Known
Right now, I don't know too much about my animal,
but I do know a couple of things.
Some things I already know about the cheetah
is that it lives in Africa. I also know that it likes to chase zebras in
tall grass. And another thing I know about the cheetah is that it can run
up to 70 mph. and sometimes faster.
Those are all of the things that I know about
the cheetah, except for one more thing. I know it has a lot of spots
on it!
Well, that's all I know about the cheetah, and I hope
to find some more information about my animal, the cheetah.
Search for Information
Some of the places I searched were on the Internet.
Some of the other places I looked were in books and encyclopedias. The
places I searched on the Internet were Techno Projects, Searchasauras,
Yahooligans, and Yahoo. I already have a lot of information in my research
folder. All of it is about the cheetah, because it's the animal that I
am researching.
Description of Plant or Animal
The cheetah is the second fastest animal in the world.
It can run up to 70 miles per hour and sometimes faster.
The cheetah lives in the African Savannah. It
is one of the most popular animals in the world.
The cheetah is fairly large. It's just like a
cat, except it's a lot bigger!
The color of the cheetah is yellow, but it also
has little black spots on it.
When the cheetah hunts for its food it looks
for things smaller than itself. It will eat rodents and wild beasts. That
is about all it eats.
Another thing about the cheetah is that the cheetah
is color blind, but because of that, it helps the cheetah hunt with speed
and agility.
The female cheetah has something cool about it
too. Whenever it starts to give birth, it gives birth up to two to four
babies offspring.
Habitat Requirements
The kind of animals the cheetah hunts
for are small rodents and small wild beasts. It usually eats things smaller
than itself.
The cheetah gets its water from ponds and creeks.
There are a lot of things that the cheetah uses
for shelter. One thing is that it uses tall bushes as shelter. Sometimes,
the cheetah also makes its own little home in tall bushes. Another thing
the cheetah uses for shelter are small trees and sometimes big trees,
if they are weeping willows or if the branches are close to the ground.
For space the cheetah usually just finds an open
field to run in. Mostly, the cheetah tries to find a field with tall grass
and weeds so when the cheetah is hunting the cheetah's prey will not see
it.
Adaptations
The cheetah only has a couple of predators.
The cheetah's two predators are human and large lions.
The human sometimes uses the cheetah's skin to
make fur coats, rugs, and sometimes hats. The lion is the one who usually
kills it.
Sometimes the cheetah is so scared of it's predators
that it can run up to 80 mph. Once I was watching the Geograpfical Channel
and the cheetah was running from hunters and it ran up to 93 mph. I think
that is fast!
The cheetah has a lot of prey. The stuff the
cheetah usually eats things that are smaller than itself. That is about
all the cheetah eats because the cheetah doesn't have a really big mouth.
Reasons for Endangerment
A long time ago the cheetah wasn't really
rare but now the cheetah is very rare because farmers have been covering
up the cheetah's land and making large farms. Another reason why the cheetah
is endangered is because a lot of hunters are killing them to collect all
of the fur to make hats, coats, and sometimes rugs.
Africa's population has increased by 20,000,000
people in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. People are taking lots
of land, and the grassy plains because it is a great form of land.
Conservationists are working to save the cheetah
by protecting national parks and wildlife refuges from enroachment by farmers
and hunters.
Another reason why the cheetah is so rare is
because a lot of lions are killing and eating them. The cheetah is on the
endangered species list and may soon become extinct.
Restoration Actions
The actions taken for the cheetah are tremendous.
Most of the time people that work at zoos will try to catch a cheetah and
put it in the zoo to keep the cheetah safe so it won't get eaten or shot
by a hunter that wants to use the cheetah's skin for clothing or houseware.
Now it is kind of hard for hunters and lions
to find a cheetah because a lot of cheetahs have been put in zoos
and parks. That's why it's hard for hunters and lions to find cheetahs
now.
What Was Learned
Some of the things I learned about the cheetah were
very interesting. One thing that I thought was pretty cool that I learned
was that the female cheetah usually gives birth up to two to four babies
offspring. I thought that was pretty interesting. Another thing I thought
was fastinating is that cheetahs always eat things smaller than itself.
Conclusions From Research
After all of the reasearch I
have obtained about the cheetah, it is obvious that the cheetah is a very
rare animal.
I do not think that people understand how important
it is to our ecology to save our wildlife. I think that people will continue
to settle on the African savannah, running the cheetah off the farmland.
I feel with better laws we can stop hunters and poachers from trapping
and also killing the cheetah. The cheetah is a beautiful animal worth saving.
Bibliography
Ryden (1991) Your Cat's Wild Cousins , Lodestar
Books, Pages 48
http://www.mcps.org
http://www.emunix.emich.edu
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.cheetah.org
http://www.cheetahspot.com
http://www.enchantedlearning.com
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Christiansburg Elementary |
Last updated on January 25, 2000
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