Welcome to Cheetah Conservation Fund’s Kids page — the purrfect place to start your cheetah studies! From cool cheetah facts for kids, to how kids like YOU are helping CCF save the cheetah in the wild.

Find a Cheetah Near YOU

Cheetah Conservation Fund

Find the cheetahs near you

Around the world, 300 facilities care for roughly 1,800 cheetahs in human care — most of them in small groups of just a few animals. Enter your city, state, or country to see which are closest to you.

~1,800 cheetahs300 facilities~6 per facility, on average40+ countries

Showing the closest facilities. Distances are straight-line estimates.

Units:

Before you visit, call ahead. Animals may be off exhibit, facilities may have seasonal hours, and holdings can change between studbook updates.

Data: 2024 International Cheetah Studbook (Marker & Johnston, Cheetah Conservation Fund), holdings as of 31 December 2024. Locations are geocoded to each facility’s city or region; straight-line distances are approximate and meant to help you find nearby facilities, not to plan a route. Directions links open a map search for the facility. Listing does not imply a partnership with or endorsement by CCF.

Unlike other big cats like lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars, cheetahs don’t roar. Instead, they growl when they feel scared, and they make sounds that are more like a high-pitched chirp or a bubble.

Cheetahs also bark to talk to each other. What makes cheetahs special is that they can purr both when they breathe in and when they breathe out.

A lot of kids

A mother cheetah usually takes care of 2 to 8 cubs in each litter. But other predators often target the cubs, and many don’t survive their first year.

Almost like Flying

When cheetahs run at full speed, each step they take covers 6 to 7 meters (21 feet). Their feet only touch the ground twice with each step.

Tail like a rudder

The cheetah has a long, strong, and flat tail. This tail works like a rudder on a boat. The cheetah uses it to steer and keep balance when running very fast.

Special cleat feet

The cheetah has claws that don’t fully retract, kind of like a dog’s claws. These claws work like the cleats on a football shoe, giving the cheetah good traction when running. Most cats have soft paw pads, but the cheetah’s pads are hard, like the rubber on a tire. This helps them grip the ground when they run so fast.

Tear marks

Like football players, cheetahs have built-in sun glare protection around their eyes. The cheetah’s “tear marks” run from the corners of their eyes down to the edges of their mouth. These marks help block the sun’s glare when they hunt during the day, just like the black marks football players put under their eyes. These marks also help the cheetah stay focused and aim at their prey while hunting.

Spotted skin

The cheetah’s fur has solid black spots, and their skin has the same spots too! The black fur grows out of the black spots on their skin.

Not just a funny haircut

Cheetah cubs have long, tall hair called the mantle that runs from their neck down to the base of their tail.

The mantle makes a cheetah cub look like a honey badger and helps them blend into tall grass. This helps keep them safe from dangers like lions and hyenas.

Unique among cats

The cheetah has a long, strong, flat tail. This tail works like a rudder on a boat. It helps them steer and keep their balance when running very fast.

A cheetah’s favorite food

Cheetahs are carnivores and eat mostly small antelopes like springbok, steenbok, Thomson’s gazelle, and duiker. They usually chase their prey, then bite its throat to cut off its air supply and kill it.

Puppies?!?

You thought this page was only about cheetahs, right? The puppy above taking the PAT (Puppy Aptitude Test) is actually very special. He is a Livestock Guarding Dog, and he and his brothers and sisters are saving cheetahs by working on farms across the African savanna.

When these dogs grow up, they can bark very loudly when they sense danger. They scare predators like cheetahs away from livestock, like goats. Farmers love having Livestock Guarding Dogs on their farms, we love training and placing them, and cheetahs love living in the wild, free from conflict with people.

Africa's most endangered cat

Thank you for visiting our website to learn about cheetahs from CCF’s facts for kids. Did you know? There are less than 7,500 cheetahs left in the wild, making them the most endangered big cat in Africa.

CCF Kids

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Illustrations on this page provided by Tess Sheehey