page_title: Pursuit predation
section_title: Mammals
hierarchical_section_title: Pursuit predation / Individual pursuers / Vertebrates / Mammals
caption_attribution_description: English: Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in pursuit of a Thompson's gazelle (Gazella thomsonii ). Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Photo by Lee R. Berger. The cheetah uses its camouflage and speed to catch its prey.
context_page_description: Pursuit predation is a form of predation in which predators give chase to fleeing prey. The chase can be initiated either by the predator or by the prey, should the prey be alerted to a predator's presence and attempt to flee before the predator gives chase. The chase ends when either the predator captures and consumes the prey, or the prey escapes. Pursuit predation is typically observed in carnivorous species within the kingdom Animalia, with some iconic examples being cheetahs, lions, and wolves.
  Pursuit predation is an alternate predation strategy to ambush predation. While pursuit predators use a detection and pursuit phase in order to obtain prey, ambush predators use stealth to capture prey. Strength and speed are important to pursuit predators, whereas ambush predators ignore these in favor of surprise from a typically concealed location. While the two patterns of predation are not mutually exclusive, morphological differences in body plan can create a bias in an organism towards each type of predation.
  One particular form of pursuit predation is persistence hunting, and some animals are examples of both types of predator.
context_section_description: While most big cat species are individual, ambush predators, Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are pursuit predators. Widely known as the fastest terrestrial animal, with speeds reaching 61–64 miles per hour, cheetahs take advantage of their speed during chases. However, their speed and acceleration also have disadvantages, as both can only be sustained for short periods of time. Studies show that cheetahs can maintain maximum speed for a distance of approximately 500 yards. Due to these limitations, cheetahs are often observed running at moderate speeds during chases. There are claims that the key to cheetahs' pursuit success may not be just their speed. Cheetahs are extremely agile, able to maneuver and change directions at very high speeds in very short amounts of time. This extensive maneuverability can make up for unsustainable high speed pursuit, as it allows cheetahs to quickly close the distance between prey without decreasing their speed when prey change direction.
caption: Cheetah chasing Thomson's gazelle
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