Well, you can’t really ride a cheetah but we can certainly show you what it would look like to accelerate from 0 to 96 km/h in three seconds!
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden strapped a video recorder on to a cheetah using a harness so as to explore the world’s fastest land animal from a first person point of view.
The cheetah named Savannah was raised with collars and harnesses from a very early age. In the video, Savannah actually purrs as the handler Alicia Sampson straps the camera on to her back.
It was all a little too bumpy, but definitely worth the watch!
Watch the video:
In slow motion, it was learnt that the rhythm of the cheetah’s run is actually quite intricate. Even though her body moves, her head stays relatively stationary.
“You wouldn’t want to ride a cheetah,” said Cincinnati Zoo Director, Thane Maynard, adding that the cheetah’s body doesn’t move like that of a horse’s while running. “What amazes me is that their head stays fairly steady even though their body is going wild.”
Reportedly, Savannah clocked speeds of over 96 kilometres per hour. In just three strides, cheetahs can normally attain a speed of over 64 km/h.
While cheetahs are known for their speed, they’re also gifted with excellent eyesight with a wide-angle view.
