The cheetah is listed as endangered. Once, cheetahs were tamed in India and used for hunting. Now they are almost extinct in Asia and Africa. Unfortunately, they do not breed well in captivity. The young are very difficult to hand-raise as no one has been able to formulate a substitute for the mother's milk.
Cheetahs can travel faster than any other land animal, but only for a few hundred yards.
They can obtain speeds of 65-70 miles per hour and can reach 45 miles per hour in 2 seconds. Their long slender legs, streamlined body, enlarged heart, air passages, lungs and adrenals, and its specialized muscles are all adaptations for pursuit. Their feet have pads that are hard and sharp. When the animal breaks or turns sharply, the pads act as cleats digging into the ground aiding in traction. The individual digits of their feet are separated more than any other cat.