Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii
Edinburgh Zoo is home to Billy the cheetah. He joined us from Whipsnade Zoo in March 2025.
Energetic and curious, Billy can be found exploring his enclosure, climbing trees and playing in leafy pits.
Cheetahs are native to Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan in small and heavily fragmented populations.
Wild populations are in decline due to poaching, illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss and lack of prey.
Population
Decreasing
Diet
Carnivore
Habitat
Grasslands
Fact file
Cheetahs are the FASTEST land animals in the world over short distances and can reach speeds of up to 75mph. They can reach 60mph in just three seconds!
These spotted cats are often mistaken for leopards or jaguars but it's easy to tell the difference when you know what to look for. Cheetahs have round or oval-shaped spots, while leopards and jaguars have distinctive spots called ‘rosettes’, resembling the shape of a rose
They can't roar! Instead they meow and purr – like a housecat
Cheetahs have approximately 2,000 spots
