Research overview: cheetah hunting strategy and the costs of speed

The cheetah's celebrated speed is the centerpiece of a hunting strategy built on daytime pursuit of fleet prey. This overview synthesizes research on how cheetahs stalk to within range before launching short, explosive chases, relying on acceleration and agility more than top speed, and on how high-speed pursuits generate intense heat and exhaustion that limit hunt frequency. It reviews how cheetahs target gazelle and other small to medium antelope, how success depends on cover and prey vigilance, and how the energetic costs and risks of injury shape their foraging. The synthesis frames cheetah hunting as a finely tuned but costly specialization. For enthusiasts it explains why cheetahs hunt by day when lions and leopards rest, why their chases are so brief, and how the same adaptations that make them the fastest land animal also constrain when and how often they can hunt.