In a nutshell

Total length	1,8 - 2.2 m (tail 60 - 80 cm)
Shoulder height	80 cm
Mass	30 - 72 kg, males heavier than females
Home range	40 - 1500 sq km
Gestation	92 days
Number of young	1 - 5 (average 3)
Diet	medium-sized mammals (approx. 60 kg); birds
Number surviving	9000 - 12 000

Description

The word cheetah is derived from the Hindi word "chita" - the spotted one.  The cheetah is a tall, slender cat, with long legs and tail and a small, rounded head with small ears and short muzzle.  Body coloration ranges from dirty white to pale fawn interspersed with solid black spots. A prominent black "tear-mark" runs from the corner of each eye to a corner of the mouth. The cheetah does not have fully retractile claws, unlike all other cats.  Very young cheetahs have extraordinary coloring: dirty white above, near black below. Underparts lighten and the spots emerge before they are 2 months old but the mantle of pale fur disappears more slowly and traces of the mantle are still present after animals are 1 year old. Much controversy prevails over whether any of the subspecies, notably that of the King Cheetah, a genetic mutation characterized by a magnificently blotched coat and found in Zimbabwe and Kruger NP and Mala Mala Game Reserve in South Africa, are valid. As regards the King cheetah, it appears that the coat pattern is determined by a recessive or unexpressed gene which must be carried by both parents. Even though it has been suggested that the King cheetah be evidence of natural selection in progress, there appears to be no evidence of any selective advantage over the ordinary pattern in hunting reproductive success or behavior.  The commonly held view is that all sub-Saharan cheetahs are Acinonyx jubatus jubatus, while Asian and Saharan ones are grouped as A.j. venaticus. Another view sees all African cheetah as belonging to the first subspecies due to occasional iinterchange between the fragmented populations of the Sahara and those in the south. The Sahara cheetah have a pale washed-out sandy color with faint spots and faded tear stripes.

Sources:

Stuart, Tilde & Chris, 1996: Africa's Vanishing Wildlife, Smithsonian Institution Press: Cape Town

Bosman, Paul & Hall-Martin, Anthony, 1997: Cats of Africa, Smithsonian Institution Press: Cape Town

Kingdon, Jonathan. 2001.The Kingdon field guide to African mammals. Academic Press: Somerset