 The offspring may stay with the mother for 13 to 20 months, associating with one another and feeding on kills together. After weaning, juveniles may form mixed-sex herds; young females may stay back with their mother, but there is hardly any interaction between the mother and daughters. The females in the mixed-sex herd gradually move out as they near sexual maturity. In the Serengeti, average age of independence of 70 observed litters was 17.1 months. Young females had their first litters at the age of about 2.4 years and subsequent litters about 20 months later. The lifespan of wild cheetahs is 14 to 15 years for females; their reproductive cycle typically ends by 12 years of age. Males generally live as long as 10 years.
