What Animals Do Cheetahs Eat?

The cheetah is the fastest animal on land, capable of reaching speeds up to 70 miles per hour. In order to run that quickly, the cheetah's protein-heavy diet includes several different animals that share the same habitat. In captivity, zookeepers feed cheetahs domestic animals.

  1. Antelopes

    • Many different kinds of antelope native to Africa are too fast for other animals to catch, but the cheetah isn't one of them. Because of their superior speed, cheetahs often eat antelopes such as Thomson's gazelles and impalas. These animals travel in packs; and when a cheetah approaches that pack, it will target a slower-moving or young antelope to eat, though it's capable of catching even the fastest.

    Mammals

    • Several small and medium-sized mammals make up the diet of the cheetah. Cheetahs prey on mammals including warthogs, wildebeest and hares. Because cheetahs are not exceptionally big, they typically eat mammals that don't weigh more than 90 pounds. A cheetah eats roughly 6 pounds of meat per day, so when it catches a large prey, many cheetahs may share the spoils while guarding against scavengers.

    Birds

    • Because of the cheetah's speed and leaping ability, birds make up a portion of its diet. For many mammals, catching birds is difficult because of the speed. Speed, however, isn't an issue for the cheetah. When vultures land to feast on carcasses of other animals, for example, and cheetahs target them and can surprise them before they can take off.

    In Captivity

    • In zoos, cheetahs aren't fed exotic animals. Instead, zookeepers feed cheetahs ground meat from domestic animals. For example, in the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, the cheetah's diet is comprised of horse, beef, rabbit and chicken meat.