Cheetahs are by no means the biggest or strongest of the felids. In fact, the cheetah has very weak jaws and a slight body frame. Because of its physical build the cheetah can run into some predators. The main predators of cheetahs are lions and hyenas. Lions seek out the dens of female cheetahs and wait for the new born cubs to emerge. Then, without notice, the lions will take the cub for an easy meal (Caro 1989 ). It is believed that due to this predatory problem the cheetah has evolutionarily changed the size of its litter so that it will still survive. Not only do lions eat the young cheetah cubs, lions also steal the kills of cheetahs. Both lions and hyenas will take the kill of a cheetah. The cheetah is held defenseless against the bigger and stronger lion and would not dare to mess with the powerful jaws of the hyena. Because of this predatory problem cheetahs have evolved into one of the most efficient hunters and produce one of the largest litter sizes for felids (Kingdon 1989).

Lion and Hyena photos by Niall McCarten & Roxanne Bittman