The magnificent cheetah is known for its blistering fast speed, reaching speeds up to 100 kmph in just three seconds. The extreme limit that the big cat can reach in order to hunt its prey is always fascinating to watch. A video doing the rounds on the internet captures a cheetah's hunt beautifully. Dubbed as the fastest land animal on the planet, cheetah is able to reach great speed due to a unique and flexible spine, which allows for extreme flexion and extension while running at high speeds.
The tweet going viral has been shared with a one-line caption in Spanish "Velocidad y fuerza", which when translated to English means "speed and strength".
The 17-second undated clip shows the cheetah taking long strides to catch a reptile. Despite the high speed, the big cat stops almost instantly when it captures its prey.
The location of the clip is not known. But since being shared, it has amassed 2.43 lakh views and more than 3,000 retweets.
The users were stunned to see the capabilities of the cheetah and the distance it covered in a short period of time.
"That is speed," commented one user. "Unbelievable," tweeted another.
According to National Geographic, a cheetah can cover seven to eight metres (23 to 26 feet) in one stride. It does not roar like lions and other big cats, but they do purr.
Unlike most cats, cheetahs hunt in the early morning and late afternoon. These carnivores eat small antelope, including springbok, steenbok, duikers, impala and gazelles, as well as the young of larger animals, such as warthogs, kudu, hartebeest, oryx, roan and sable. Cheetahs also hunt game birds and rabbits.
