The sounds we’re listening to were recorded in the African country of Namibia. See if you can guess what sort of animal is making these chirps. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
Well, it’s supposed to sound like a bird, but believe it or not, these chirps are being made by baby cheetahs.
“Cheetahs have a very unique sound in their chirping, different than any of the other cats. One of the things that was thought was that the cubs will make this very high pitched chirping as a mimicry to make them sound like birds when the mother is leaving the cubs alone for the first six weeks coming and going. The den is actually left alone and the cubs, when they’re chirping could be avoided then by lions who don’t know that they’re cheetahs, that they could be birds.”
Laurie Marker is the founder and director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, based in Namibia. She tells us that chirping of their cubs is just one of many features that distinguishes cheetahs from other large cats.
“Cheetahs are the fastest of all the land animals, and they’re a very unique species. They have been adapted for running. And their body is very specially built with long legs and semi-nonretractable claws. And that’s one of the things that makes them different. Most people don’t know the difference between a cheetah and a leopard. It’s their body type — the cheetah’s built more like a greyhound. Cheetahs also have what are called tear-drops or tear-lines down their eyes. They’re dark markings under their eyes which help them refract the sun’s glare when they’re running and also help them in hunting.”
Cheetahs are an endangered species, and we’ll hear about efforts to preserve them in future programs. Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. I’m Jim Metzner.