FEMALES

Social spacing depends on the sex of the Cheetah. Female Cheetahs are completely solitary, coming into contact with other Cheetahs during mating. Females cover a home range instead of a territory. Female home ranges can extend upwards of 1300 km2 (Bertram 1979).Females must maintain a home range and not a territory because there is no resource that the female can defend. In most cases, females will have a large litter of cubs with them and must find an adequate food source for her and her family. To feed all the cubs, the family must follow the migratory path of their prey (antelopes, gazelle). As these food sources move, following the water supply through the Serengeti Plains, the female and her cubs must follow to insure their health.Female Cheetahs are unable to defend a piece of land because they are submissive to all male cheetahs and can not defend against them. Therefore, since a female can not defend food or land, she must resort to a large home range (Union 2001).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MALES

Male cheetahs have two different types of social spacing. At approximately 18-22 months of age, males will be kicked out of the family by their mother. In most cases brothers will remain together and form a coalition. A coalition is a group of 2-4 male cheetahs who live and hunt (Pair bonds) together and maintain a territory (Bertram 1979). Most coalitions are made up of siblings, but there have been cases were nomadic males and joined with two siblings. A coalition's territory is much smaller than the home range of a female cheetah. A female's home range might include 3-4 male coalition territories within it.

 

 

 

 

 

The coalition will form a territory because the two males will be able to defend a territory against single nomadic males (Caro 1989). The coalition will try to find a plot of land that encompasses a "birth rock". This birth rock is a place where females will come to bear a litter of cubs. If the males can secure a rock, and with the submissive behavior of the female towards the male, there is a good chance the coalition will be able to copulate with the female. A coalition's territory must have enough food for the female to raise her litter in good health. Although food is a great reason for constructing a territory for the male, the birth rock holds a greater role for male cheetahs (LeBrun 1989).

If, by chance, a male cheetah is the only male in its litter, or he is not accepted by two other males to form a coalition, it will have to lead a solitary nomadic life. A solitary male lives on a home range because it is unable to defend a territory against a coalition. Rather than fight to its death over the territory, the solitary male chooses to follow the migratory path of its prey and hope to gain copulations from females on the same migratory tract. Even though females are submissive to males, a coalition has a much better chance of mating with the female because of the very important birthing rock. If a solitary male can not provide a birthing rock for the female, its chances of fathering a litter become slim.