09/12/2025
Can you believe it's Friday again already!? Time for some fast facts about our fastest animal.
Yep you guessed it! Today will be all about Nala and Kneesa our two female cheetahs. Nala and Kneesa are sisters and are 2½ years old. They are the fastest land animal reaching speeds of 70 mph. Even more impressive is how fast they can reach those speeds. In 2.5 seconds a cheetah can go from 0 to 45 mph! Cheetahs have quite a few adaptations that have helped them achieve their title of fastest land animal. For example, these fast cats have enlarged hearts, lungs, and nasal passages to help support their bodies during high speed dashes. Cheetahs have a very strong muscular tail that acts as a rudder, helping them make sharp turns. They even have their own built-in kleets. Unlike other cats they do not have retractable claws, meaning they get constant traction while running at high speeds.
Cheetahs are very unique in the big cat family in many ways. One way is their inability to roar. Cheetahs unlike other big cats purr and chirp to communicate with one another. Most big cats have what is known as a fixed hyoid bone in their voice boxes. This fixed bone is connected to their skull by very strong ligaments to create loud full throated roars. Cheetahs on the other hand have a flexible hyoid bone in their voice boxes which allows vibrations but is not strong enough to support roaring.
Next time you visit Nala and Kneesa here at the zoo take a listen for their chirps hello! You may even mistake it for the birds!
