A cheetah's top speed is often given as 60 to 70 mph. But few precise measurements of wild cheetahs had been made before 2013, as of November 2026. Timing a cheetah is hard, because animals do not always run flat out when someone is measuring.
To get real data, researchers built collars that combined GPS with motion sensors; the collars let them record position, speed and movement in the wild. They followed five wild cheetahs in Botswana for 17 months and recorded 367 runs.
The best field measurement of wild cheetahs gave a top speed of 58 mph, as of November 2026. That is fast, but the hunting runs were slower. They topped out at about 31 to 33 mph on average. About one run in four ended with the cheetah catching its prey.
A cheetah can hold its top speed for only about 20 to 30 seconds; it is a sprinter, not a long-distance runner. In one stride it covers about 20 to 23 feet, and it takes about four strides every second at top speed. Its flexible spine lets its front legs stretch far forward with each stride.
Speeding up and slowing down matter too. A cheetah can speed up by up to 6.7 mph in a single stride; a small, cone-shaped patch of bare skin on the back of each front leg works like a brake. The long tail works like a rudder, and the claws grip the ground like cleats.
Other fast runners can be compared; the fastest racehorse runs 43 mph, while a cheetah can run up to 70 mph, according to the San Diego Zoo, as of November 2026. An ostrich can sprint up to 43 miles per hour and hold about 31 miles per hour over a long run. Sources disagree about the pronghorn. They give 50 mph for Wyoming, 55 mph from the National Park Service and 60 mph for Texas, as of November 2026.
Fast animals are not always safe animals. As of November 2026, cheetahs have vanished from at least 13 countries in the past 50 years. Estimates say only about 7,500 to 10,000 are left in the wild, and National Geographic counts fewer than 7,000 adults. Cheetahs live mostly in Africa, and a small number live in Iran.
Words to know
- GPS: satellite locator
- sensors: measuring devices
- sprinter: short-burst runner
- brake: slowing part
