Cheetahs

Cheetahs remain to be one of the most popular of the “big cats”, famed for being the fastest land mammal ever known to be.

Pivotal in the plot of the 1989 Disney live action feature entitled Cheetah, the movie looked into the fabled elusive big cat species in a brighter light, depicting how relatively easy they are to domesticate, in contrast to their fellow big cats like the lion, tiger and panther.

The movie tells the tale of how a family took it upon themselves to adopt a cheetah, only to realize that they had domesticated it too much, and that it had to be set free for it to actually learn to survive in the wild. Ironically, the cheetah fell into the hands of poachers, who had intentions of actually introducing the fast cat into a dog race as an added attraction.

Needless to say, the cheetah was rescued by its past owners from the would-be gambling ring lords, ending the movie with an inside look at the threats and dangers cheetahs are faced to deal with on a day to day basis.

As fast as cheetahs are known to be, the movie did feature something about cheetahs which isn’t well known to most – how similar their body physique is with dogs. From the overall shape of a cheetah’s body, to its paws and claws, cheetahs actually bear more physical similarities with dogs, which contributes to their fast running attribute.

The paws of a cheetah are similar with how a dog’s paws are, with their claws not being retractable, with soft pads geared to weather the rigors of fast running. Their body physique is also similar with dogs, lean like that of a Greyhound’s , and generally built for speed.

As the cheetah holds the distinction of being the fastest land mammal, they continue to be legendary among the bigger cats, with their speed being their more notable and more famous attribute.