Wosteaquean cheetah
| Wosteaquean Cheetah | |
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| A Wosteaquean cheetah in the plains of the district of Greylee | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia
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| Phylum: | Chordata
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| Class: | Mammalia
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| Order: | Carnivora
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| Family: | Felidae
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| Genus: | Miracinonyx
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| Species: | M. campi
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The Wosteaquean cheetah is a large cat native to Wosteaque, specifically Boemont and Frésir.
Description[edit | edit source]
The Wosteaquean cheetah is the second fastest land animal, only beat by its relative. Its body is built for high speed, although this speed cannot be kept for long. The high speed is to used to surprise prey, or to catch animals straying from the herd. Their coat ranges from tan to creamy white with small black spots covering the coat. It is bigger than its cousin, and adapted to cold weather, instead of hot weather.
Evolution[edit | edit source]
The Wosteaquean cheetah ancestors likely migrated from Hesperdia through ice bridges similar to the steppe bison migration. The ancestors of the Wosteaquean cheetah had to deal with the warming periods in Boemont and Frésir, in which many died in local areas. This warming period lasted until about 4,000 years ago when it ended, and the average temperature dropped. This prompted the cheetahs to evolve to withstand colder weather, as well as the cheetahs in the colder northern wooded areas to migrate south to the steppes.
Ecology[edit | edit source]
Habitat[edit | edit source]
The habitat range of the Wosteaquean cheetah consists of the plains, and steppes of Boemont, and Frésir, with some individuals as far as the northern taiga of Frésir or the eastern forest of Boemont. Sightings have been reported in eastern Frésir, although this is unconfirmed.
Diet[edit | edit source]
The Wosteaquean cheetah preys upon light to medium prey, with deer, goats, pronghorn, and rabbits. They normally hunt these prey during dawn or dusk, although day hunting is not unusual.
Predators[edit | edit source]
The only known animal to prey upon adult cheetahs is Wosteaquean Alligators, while wolfs are known to target the cubs. Wolfs due like to chase adult cheetahs although they do not hunt them, this is usually done to steal the kill of the cheetah or, as theorized by biologists, to practice hunting.
Cold weather adaptation[edit | edit source]
The Wosteaquean cheetah has evolved to have a thicker coat, as well as fat reserves in vital regions. It undergoes a light hibernation period, with less activity, and metabolic depression during the winter seasons.
Coats variations[edit | edit source]
Color variations for the Wosteaquean cheetah range from tans up to unique patterns observed in only a few individuals. Some examples of such patterns are dual spots and black-bellied, there however more rare patterns such as the golden sun, and the silver moon variants, where the coat has a metallic-like sheen, and either a yellow-orange for the golden sun or a silky white-grey for the silver moon variant.
Lifespan and reproduction[edit | edit source]
The Wosteaquean cheetah normally lives 10-15 years, with females on average living longer.
Cheetahs can breed throughout the year, and typically within the fourth or fifth year females will have their first litter, while males typically within the first two years.
Taming & domestication[edit | edit source]
Wosteaquean cheetahs have been tamed since Boemont and Frésir were discovered, primarily because of the domestication process was started about 1,500 years ago with the native nations in both Boemont and Frésir. They were domesticated in such a short time span because cheetahs naturally have little to no aggression toward humans. The number of people that have cheetahs as pets has risen in the last 200 years due to cross-breeding the less aggressive cheetahs, this has resulted in domesticated sub-species.
Although Wosteaquean cheetah domestication started as a way to keep them as pets, ranchers have started to use them for protection for animal herds, with cattle dogs leading the herd. The utilization of cheetahs as protection in ranches started sometime around the 1950s when several ranches in Boemont started to use them to great effect. The number of livestock that were killed by predators such as wolfs or coyotes has dropped considerably.