Planet Earth is home to an incredibly huge number of different animals, each species of which has a different habitat, habits and unique opportunities. By studying them, people learned to compare their abilities. Scientists and researchers have established the so-called ratings of the strongest, fastest running, jumping, largest and smallest species of land and waterfowl animals, etc. In turn, there was a debate about who is faster: lion or elk? And we will talk about this in our article.
Who is faster among wild cats?
For almost all representatives of the fauna, the main vital issue is the speed of movement, with predators hunting and catching, and their victims fleeing. In this connection, in principle, quite logical questions arose. Who is the best runner: fox or rabbit? Who is faster: a lion or an elk? Separate categories of outstanding runners are also compared, for example, among artiodactyl animals or predators from the cat family.
So, according to the results of repeated observations, the speed palm among wild cats was given to the cheetah for a day hunter. And we will give him his due before comparing who is faster: a lion or an elk.
With its weight of 45-65 kilograms, the graceful cheetah not only overtook its brethren, but is rightly considered the fastest among all land animals in the world! In just 3 seconds, the cheetah accelerates to 120 km / h, and its only weakness is that it cannot run for such a long time, and after hunting, a tired beast needs half an hour to rest. However, this short time is enough for the predator to catch its prey. And nothing that the cheetah is considered the weakest of cats, but he is a real sprinter!
But what about the king of beasts?
So, in the first place on the run among the predatory cats was the cheetah. And what about the king of beasts? Leo is the hardest member of his family, his weight can be 125-200 kilograms. Therefore, he does not take the first, but the honorable second place in the ranking of the fastest land animals.
Cheetah rival, the lion can develop a running speed of up to 80 km / h. Lighter females usually hunt, although males also help drive the prey. The strength of lions is that they get food by uniting in small groups. Predators creep close to the herd (30 meters away), because they are not able to catch up with the victim for a long time: they quickly exhaust themselves. Then they fall into the herd, drive their prey into the ring and attack.
Like cheetahs, lions run well over short distances. These are incredibly powerful animals. And although the prey of lions, for example antelopes, can also compete in speed of movement, most often they are doomed to become a victim of a predator.
The fastest hoofed animal
Before finding out which of the animals runs faster: a lion or an elk, we will find out which is the fastest artiodactyl animal. Natural prey for large predators of the cat family are gazelles, antelopes, Pronghorn, kulans, and occasionally moose.
In the first place in high-speed running is a pronghorn antelope that can move at a speed of 100 km / h. The speed of the animal is explained by physiology: a large heart, a large volume of lungs and a thick trachea. In addition, there are shock absorbers on the front legs - cartilaginous pads that soften running on sharp stones. Such data give the pronghorn the ability to move quickly, although this does not always save lightning-cheetah from the claws.
Elk
With its large dimensions, the elk swims perfectly, and runs at a speed of 70-75 km / h, therefore it rarely becomes the prey of large predators. On the podium among the ten fastest relatives, he is in second place, and among all other animals - in seventh!
This is the largest beast of the deer family, whose weight reaches 600 kilograms in males. The scope of the huge 30-kilogram horns is about two meters. On natural pastures, moose feed on grass, berries, moss, as well as mushrooms, leaves, and tree bark. It is at such moments that the animal can become the desired prey of a large predatory cat, for example a lion. This is where doubts arise as to who is faster: a lion or an elk.
By the way, this artiodactyl not only swims well, but can even hold its breath for a minute underwater!
