🐆 Cheetah vs Great white shark 🦈
The great white shark is about 3 times as long as the cheetah. The cheetah is about twice as fast as the great white shark. The great white shark weighs about 35 times as much as the cheetah.
| Row | 🐆 Cheetah | 🦈 Great white shark |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed The cheetah is about twice as fast as the great white shark. | 60 to 70 mph96 to 112 km/h1 | 35 mph56 km/h2 |
| Weight The great white shark weighs about 35 times as much as the cheetah. | 75 to 141 lb34 to 64 kg1 | 2 tons1.8 tonnes3 |
| Lives The great white shark usually lives about 6 times as long as the cheetah. | 8 to 10 years8 to 10 years1 | 30 to 70 years30 to 70 years3 |
| Eats Both eat meat. | antelopes such as gazelles and impalas, and hares | seals, sea lions, fish and dead whales |
| Lives in They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. | the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa, and a few in Iran | cool coastal seas around the world |
Which one? Cheetah or great white shark
🏁 Who would win the race?
The cheetah gets to the tree first. Over a short dash it is about twice as fast as the great white shark. It isn't quite fair: the cheetah is running and the great white shark is swimming. But a cheetah can only keep up its top speed for a short dash.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
Compare two more
Getting the animals ready…
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/cheetah-vs-great-white-shark
Where these numbers come from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Cheetah, checked 30 October 2026.
- NOAA Science On a Sphere, checked 30 October 2026.
- NOAA Fisheries, checked 30 October 2026.