🐆 Cheetah vs Lion 🦁
The lion is about one and a half times as long as the cheetah. The lion weighs about 4 times as much as the cheetah.
| Row | 🐆 Cheetah | 🦁 Lion |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the lion yet. | 60 to 70 mph96 to 112 km/h1 | no checked number yet |
| Weight The lion weighs about 4 times as much as the cheetah. | 75 to 141 lb34 to 64 kg1 | 414 lb188 kg2 |
| Lives The lion usually lives about twice as long as the cheetah. | 8 to 10 years8 to 10 years1 | 16 years16 years3 |
| Eats Both eat meat. | antelopes such as gazelles and impalas, and hares | zebras, wildebeest, buffalo and other grazing animals |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa, and a few in Iran | the savannas of Africa, and one forest in India |
Which one? Cheetah or lion
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the lion yet, so there is no race.
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…
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The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/cheetah-vs-lion
Where these numbers come from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Cheetah, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Register 2015 (Listing Two Lion Subspecies), checked 30 October 2026.
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Lion, checked 30 October 2026.