Abstract:
Predator–prey interactions are fundamental in the evolution and structure of
ecological communities. Our understanding, however, of the strategies used in
pursuit and evasion remains limited. Here, we report on the hunting dynamics
of theworld’s fastest land animal, the cheetah,Acinonyx jubatus.Usingminiaturized
data loggers, we recorded fine-scale movement, speed and acceleration of
free-ranging cheetahs tomeasure howhunting dynamics relate to chasing different
sized prey. Cheetahs attained hunting speeds of up to 18.94 m s21 and
accelerated up to 7.5ms22 with greatest angular velocities achieved during
the terminal phase of the hunt. The interplay between forward and lateral acceleration
during chases showed that the total forces involved in speed changes and
turningwere approximately constant over time but varied with prey type. Thus,
rather than a simplemaximum speed chase, cheetahs first accelerate to decrease
the distance to their prey, before reducing speed 5–8 s fromthe end of the hunt,
so as to facilitate rapid turns to match prey escape tactics, varying the precise
strategy according to prey species. Predator and prey thus pit a fine balance of
speed against manoeuvring capability in a race for survival.
