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Locomotion dynamics of hunting in wild cheetahs

Author

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  • A. M. Wilson

    (Structure & Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK)

  • J. C. Lowe

    (Structure & Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK)

  • K. Roskilly

    (Structure & Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK)

  • P. E. Hudson

    (Structure & Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK
    Present addresses: Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Chichester, College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6PE, UK (P.E.H.); Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana, and Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX13 5QL, UK (K.A.G.))

  • K. A. Golabek

    (Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana
    Present addresses: Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Chichester, College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6PE, UK (P.E.H.); Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana, and Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX13 5QL, UK (K.A.G.))

  • J. W. McNutt

    (Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana)

Abstract

Although the cheetah is recognised as the fastest land animal, little is known about other aspects of its notable athleticism, particularly when hunting in the wild. Here we describe and use a new tracking collar of our own design, containing a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial measurement units, to capture the locomotor dynamics and outcome of 367 predominantly hunting runs of five wild cheetahs in Botswana. A remarkable top speed of 25.9 m s−1 (58 m.p.h. or 93 km h−1) was recorded, but most cheetah hunts involved only moderate speeds. We recorded some of the highest measured values for lateral and forward acceleration, deceleration and body-mass-specific power for any terrestrial mammal. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed locomotor information on the hunting dynamics of a large cursorial predator in its natural habitat.

Suggested Citation

  • A. M. Wilson & J. C. Lowe & K. Roskilly & P. E. Hudson & K. A. Golabek & J. W. McNutt, 2013. "Locomotion dynamics of hunting in wild cheetahs," Nature, Nature, vol. 498(7453), pages 185-189, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:498:y:2013:i:7453:d:10.1038_nature12295
    DOI: 10.1038/nature12295
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    Cited by:

    1. Owen R Bidder & Hamish A Campbell & Agustina Gómez-Laich & Patricia Urgé & James Walker & Yuzhi Cai & Lianli Gao & Flavio Quintana & Rory P Wilson, 2014. "Love Thy Neighbour: Automatic Animal Behavioural Classification of Acceleration Data Using the K-Nearest Neighbour Algorithm," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-7, February.

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