The cheetah in Kidepo Valley National Park Uganda

Recognized and described by many as the most splendid and Africa’s finest wilderness, Kidepo Valley National Park is indeed a marvelous place to visit in Uganda. The cheetah known as the fastest land animal in all of Uganda safari parks is found only in Kidepo Valley National Park. The cheetah in Kidepo Valley National Park is one of the wild animals you can see during a game drive on the 1,442 square kilometers rugged savannah park in the north eastern region of Uganda.

On a Uganda wildlife safari to Kidepo valley, a game drive takes you to the beautiful cheetah habitat dominated by the 2,750metres (9,020ft) Mount Morungole. While taking the game drive on this wildlife tour, you go through the open grasslands, lush green hills and bushy areas of the park.

Facts About the cheetah in Kidepo Valley National Park Uganda

A cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal and Africa’s most endangered big cat.

The cheetah is capable of reaching speeds greater than 110 kilometers per hour in just over 3 seconds and at a top speed their stride is 7 meters long.

Cheetahs are active mainly during the day especially in the cool of the early mornings and evenings with hunting as their major activity.

Cheetahs are found mainly on flat savannah plains where they can run their prey to exhaustion to make it easier for them to make their kill with a final coup de grace bite on the victim’s wind pipe.

Cheetahs mainly prey on antelopes and gazelles which they stalk within 100 – 300 meters, charge towards them and kill them by tripping them during the chase and biting their throats to suffocation. 

Adult males are sociable

Though they are the fastest of the big cats, cheetahs are not the strongest animals, its weakest in the bigger cats.

Cheetahs have beautiful tear marks that run down the face and usually reflect light from the sun, this separates them from the somewhat similar leopard.


Surprisingly, the gestation period for the cheetah is three months giving birth to a litter of between 1 to 8 cubs and weaned by six months.

The population of the cheetahs is decreasing and becoming pocketed-one population can not meet the other and breed and in case of a disease the whole population can be wiped out.  

What Makes the cheetah a fast animal?

A cheetah has a unique body structure; its long legs, flexible spine, semi-retractable claws and a long tail allow it to achieve the unbelievable top speed of 110 km/hr.

The body of a cheetah is narrow with lightweight, long slender limbs and the specialized muscles allow for a greater swing to the limbs increasing acceleration making it the fastest land animal in the world.  

Kidepo Valley National Park is not only home to the cheetah but also several other attractions inclusive of which are over 77 mammal species with about 28 endemics to the park, more than 475 bird species (ranking the park as the second national park with many bird species in Uganda), the Kanangorok hot springs and the vast wilderness itself. All these and many more interesting communities are what you see on a wildlife safari in Uganda’s Kidepo Valley National Park.  

The numbers of the cheetahs are slowly increasing and as you plan to tour the park make sure not to blink because this is a sure way of loosing sight of the cheetah.