Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) Fact Sheet: Diet & Feeding

Ungulates compose much of the diet

• Prey percentage depends on geographic location (summarized in Appendix 3 of Caro 1994)
  • East Africa
    • Thomson’s gazelle 22%
    • Grant’s gazelle 21.4%
    • Impala 15.6%
    • Hare, oribi, wildebeest, hartebeest, less than 4% each
  • Nairobi National Park
    • Thomson’s gazelle 9.4-21.9%
    • Grant’s gazelle 17.0-24.6%
    • Impala 27.4-35.8%
    • Coke’s hartebeest 9.4-12%
    • Warthog 7.5-2.2%
  • Masai Mara
    • Thomson’s gazelle 41.7%
    • Impala 32.3%
    • Wildebeest 12.5%
    • Topi 5.2%
  • Serengeti
    • Thomson’s gazelle 56.0-89.0%
    • Grant’s gazelle 2.2-9.3%
    • Wildebeest 26.0-9%
  • Kalahari
    • Springbok 86.9%
    • Wildebeest 3.5%
    • Ostrich 3.5%
  • Kafue National Park
    • Puku 45.5%
    • Reedbuck 12.1%
    • Lichenstein’s hartebeest 9.1%
  • Transvaal
    • Impala 85.1%
    • Greater kudu 8.5%
    • Wildebeest 6.4%
  • Kruger National Park
    • Impala 65.0%
    • Greater kudu 6.8%
    • Waterbuck 6.7%

Feeding

• Feeding strategy
  • Cuts open prey’s abdomen with teeth
  • Consumes large muscle groups on prey’s limbs, back and neck first
  • Usually do not eat skin or bone
  • May squeeze out contents of intestine before consuming
  • Usually don’t return to kills, although mother with cubs may cover kill with earth or grass and return with cubs
    • May remain near large kills
• Amount of food consumed
  • Can eat 14 kg (30.9 lbs) at one sitting
  • A group of 4 cheetah can finish an impala in 15 minutes
  • An adult, non-reproducing cheetah in managed care eats on average 1.3 kg (2.9 lbs) food/day
    • c. 1800 kcal/day

Caro (1994)
Dierenfeld (1993)
Wildt et al (1994)