Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey

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.