Tooth and Claw: Cheetahs

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Adam Hart investigates the fastest land animal in the world – the cheetah! Built for high-speed chases, these spotted cats are slender, with semi-retractable claws for good grip and a flexible spine plus a long tail for balance and manoeuvrability. Cheetahs rely on speed over brute strength when hunting – and can make tight, quick turns to shift course in fast pursuit of their prey. But with shrinking populations cheetahs are classified as vulnerable – so what’s being done in terms of conservation and are these projects having any success?

Adam hears how cheetahs differ from lions and leopards and learns about their relationships with other predators. He looks at their unique adaptions and behaviours, as well as the different approaches that conservationists are undertaking to try and reverse the population decline. And we also hear about the re-introduction of cheetahs to India.

Contributors:

Professor Sarah Durant is from the Zoological Society of London and is project leader of the Africa Range-Wide Cheetah Conservation Initiative.

Vincent van der Merwe is director of The Metapopulation Initiative and is cheetah metapopulation coordinator for Southern Africa and India.

Presenter: Professor Adam Hart Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Holly Squire Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt

(Photo: Cheetah, Credit: Paul & Paveena Mckenzie via Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Global Story, with Smart Takes and Fresh Perspective, on one big news story,
0:07.8	every Monday to Friday from the BBC World Service.
0:11.3	Search for The Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts to find out more.
0:17.0	You're listening to Discovery from the BBC World Service.
0:25.0	I'm Adam Hart and this is Tooth and Clore, the series where I explore our complex and
0:30.7	challenging relationships with Earth's greatest predators
0:33.2	through the people who have spent their lives studying, protecting,
0:36.8	and at times narrowly escaping them.
0:38.6	Today's predator is the fastest land animal in the world.
0:46.0	These slender spotted cats are built for speed.
0:49.0	They have semi-retractable claws for good grip,
0:51.0	a flexible spine and long tail for balance and maneuverability,
0:55.0	and with rapid strides and quick tight turns to shift course in fast pursuit, they rely on their
0:59.8	speed over brute strength when it comes to hunting. But with a shrinking population, this predator is listed as vulnerable.
1:06.9	It's time to learn all about the cheetah. Joining us to discuss these high-speed specialists are Professor Sarah Durant from the Zoological Society of London,
1:15.3	she's project leader of the Africa Rangewide Cheetah Conservation Initiative,
1:19.3	and Vincent van der Mervyn, Director for the Meta-Population Initiative and Cheetah Metapop, Director for the Meta-population Initiative and Cheetah
1:23.4	Meta-population coordinator for Southern Africa and India. Now Sarah let's start
1:27.5	with you on Tooth and Clow, we featured other big cats like lions, tigers and cougas.
1:31.4	What makes the Cheetah different from those other cats in terms of their
1:35.0	behavior?
1:36.0	So as you already mentioned, cheetahs are the fastest animal on land and it's really worth
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.