title: Cheetah do not abandon hunts because they overheat.
abstract: Hunting cheetah reportedly store metabolic heat during the chase and abandon chases because they overheat. Using biologging to remotely measure the body temperature (every minute) and locomotor activity (every 5 min) of four free-living cheetah, hunting spontaneously, we found that cheetah abandoned hunts, but not because they overheated. Body temperature averaged 38.4°C when the chase was terminated. Storage of metabolic heat did not compromise hunts. The increase in body temperature following a successful hunt was double that of an unsuccessful hunt (1.3°C ± 0.2°C versus 0.5°C ± 0.1°C), even though the level of activity during the hunts was similar. We propose that the increase in body temperature following a successful hunt is a stress hyperthermia, rather than an exercise-induced hyperthermia.
authors.affiliation: Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Parktown 2193, South Africa. robyn.hetem@wits.ac.za
authors.forename: Robyn S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Hetem
authors.forename: Duncan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Brenda A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: de Witt
authors.forename: Linda G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Fick
authors.forename: Leith C R
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Shane K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuller
mesh_terms: D002612:Acinonyx / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D005334:Fever; D011235:Predatory Behavior
keywords: exercise; hyperthermia; sprint; thermal limit