The King Cheetah
Cheetahs are the most dog-like of the cats and they are classified in their own subfamily, the Acinonyxchinae. Cheetahs have long legs and run down their prey rather than stalking it. They also have blunt non-retractable claws. Two subspecies are recognised, the African Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus jubatus and the Asian Cheetah. However, here is no clear difference between the subspecies and those of north Africa appear to be intermediate and more closely resemble Asian cheetahs than those south of the Sahara desert.
In 1926 a cat, which was originally thought to be a cheetah-leopard hybrid, was trapped near Salisbury in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The cat was found to resemble a cheetah but with atypical markings. The coat was not spotted but had long dark stripes down the middle of the back with dark patches on the flanks. Other animals of the same type were found and it was believed to represent a new species, the King Cheetah, Acinonyx rex. These animals are now believed to be merely an unusually marked variant of Cheetah rather than a separate race.
For more information on King Cheetahs, visit Kwayera's King Cheetah Den.
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