How Long Do Cheetahs Live? Lifespan and Cub Survival in the Wild

How long do cheetahs live in the wild?

A cheetah’s life expectancy depends enormously on its first year. Once a young cheetah becomes independent, at about 18–20 months old, its chances improve a lot. Long-term studies give these rough figures:

These are not averages from birth. If cub deaths were included, the average lifespan of all cheetahs born in some areas would be well under one year, because so few cubs survive.

The best long-term data come from the Serengeti in Tanzania, where researchers have recognized individual cheetahs by their unique spot patterns for decades. In that population, females that reached independence lived an average of about six years. A few lived to around 14, and some older females were still raising cubs. Most females have their first litter at two to three years old and can breed until about 12.

Why do so many cheetah cubs die?

Cheetah cubs face some of the highest death rates known among wild cats. A mother usually gives birth to three or four cubs in a hidden lair of long grass or thick bushes. Because she must leave them alone for hours while she hunts, the cubs are exposed to any predator that wanders past.

In a detailed study on the open plains of the Serengeti in the late 1980s and early 1990s, only about 5 percent of cubs survived to independence. Predation caused nearly three-quarters of the deaths, and lions were by far the main killers. Other cubs died from exposure in cold, wet weather, grass fires, starvation, or after being abandoned when their mother could not find enough food.

Cub survival is not equally poor everywhere. In the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari, about a third of cubs survived to independence, a figure similar to that of leopard cubs in some reserves. Where lions and hyenas are fewer, or where there is more cover, more cubs make it.

Mothers do what they can. They move the litter to a new lair every few days, and a female that loses a whole litter soon comes back into breeding condition and can become pregnant again much sooner than one raising cubs. This ability to replace lost litters helps populations persist despite the losses.

What kills adult cheetahs?

Once grown, cheetahs face fewer predators, but their lives are still risky.

• Lions occasionally kill adult cheetahs, and cheetahs often lose their kills to lions and spotted hyenas, which can leave them short of food.
• Rival males fight over territories, and these fights can be fatal. Many males live in coalitions, usually of two or three brothers, which helps them win and hold territory.
• Injuries are serious for a hunter that depends on speed. A broken leg or a deep wound from struggling prey can stop a cheetah from hunting, and it may starve.
• People are a major cause of death outside parks. Cheetahs are shot or trapped by livestock farmers, caught in snares set for other animals, and killed on roads.

These human-caused deaths are a key reason why the cheetah is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, with only about 6,500–7,100 adults left in the wild. Read more in Are cheetahs endangered?

Do male or female cheetahs live longer?

Females usually live longer. Young males leave their mother’s area and often roam over huge distances before settling, which exposes them to lions, rival males and people. Studies of wild males often record ages at death of about 6–8 years, and few seem to live past 10. Territorial males tend to be in better condition than wandering males.

Females, by contrast, stay in large home ranges they know well and avoid fights with other cheetahs. That is why the oldest wild cheetahs on record are almost always females.

How long do cheetahs live in captivity?

In zoos, cheetahs are protected from predators, hunting injuries and food shortages, so they can live far longer than wild cheetahs. Records from zoos put the maximum lifespan at about 17–20 years, and many zoo cheetahs live into their teens.

Captive life has its own problems. In the early days of keeping cheetahs, the animals bred poorly and many died young; early captive cheetahs had an average lifespan of only about 3–4 years. Captive cheetahs are also prone to certain chronic diseases, notably stomach inflammation and kidney problems, which are major causes of death in zoo populations. The cheetah’s very low genetic diversity, a legacy of severe population crashes thousands of years ago, may make it more vulnerable to some diseases.

How does a cheetah’s lifespan compare with other big cats?

Cheetahs are lightly built hunters that cannot defend themselves well against larger predators, which helps explain their shorter lives in the wild. For a closer look at the differences between the two spotted cats, see cheetah vs leopard, and for how cheetahs find enough food to survive, read What do cheetahs eat?