The cheetah has about the same body weight as the leopard (50 to 60 kg/110 to 130 lb), but it has a longer body, much longer legs, and a smaller head. The head and body, without the tail, are about 1.8 m (about 4.5 ft) long, and the claws are short, and unlike other cats, cheetahs can only partially retract them, and they are not covered by sheaths. This is probably an adaptation for high-speed running that permits their claws to bite into the ground like cleats. The coat is yellowish-brown with black spots; the cub also has a spotted coat, but over the back and head is a mantle of long, silky, gray hair that remains for about three months.  The shoulder height of a cheetah is 69-86cm (27-34 inches).

The body of the cheetah is adapted for taking prey by running rather than by leaping from ambush, as with the leopard, and the cheetah hunts by sight rather than by smell. This doglike method of hunting is suited to its habitat, which is open grassland. Over short distances it is the fastest ground animal on earth, being able to attain speeds up to 112 km/hr (70 mph). It hunts by day, feeding primarily on antelope. Its speed makes it the only animal capable of running down black bucks and gazelles

Cheetahs are tamable and are quite playful and affectionate.  They were used for centuries in India for hunting game and are sometimes called hunting leopards.  For more than 4,000 years, they have been kept by kings and nobles. Akbar, the Mogul emperor who ruled over Hindustan in the 16th century, kept about 1,000 cheetahs to hunt antelope. Francis I, a 17th century French king, often took cheetahs with him when he traveled. He is said to have played with them as if they were pet poodles.

Lack of genetic variation may be a problem for cheetahs. The causes are unknown, but close genetic similarities among cheetahs may result in increased susceptibility to disease; it may also make them less adaptable than other species, but none of this has been confirmed. What has been confirmed is that all living cheetahs come from a very small gene pool. This indicates that at some point in the past, the cheetah population must have been quite low. Cheetahs are now so genetically similar that skin grafts taken from an animal in a particular populationcan be applied to another animal from a geographically separate population, and the grafts will not be rejected.

An international ban on spotted-cat fur has been in effect since 1975, but such fur is still popular in Europe and Asia. This means that wherever cheetahs live, poaching remains a threat.