Rugby Star Races Against Cheetah

The cheetah is the fastest land mammal on Earth, and can up to 60 mph in a mere three seconds. But that didn't stop the 23-year old Byran Habana, a star rugby player that lives in South Africa. Habana decided to compete against the fast land mammal when the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust asked him to participate in the race. Habana, being a good sport, said yes to their proposition.

But getting a cheetah to run 100 meters automatically would be no easy task. Someone came up with the idea to make the cheetah chase after an object, which in this case was a lamb leg attached to a teddy bear and then tied to a rope. The cheetah was contained in a cage prior to the race. Once the race started the gate to the cage opened, the lamb leg quickly pulled towards the end of the track, and the cheetah, as well as Bryan Habana, ran. Once the race was concluded, the cheetah was quickly recontained to ensure the safety of Habana and bystanders.

Just in case the cheetah did attack Habana or another bystander, people with tranquilizer guns stood present. In the instance of an attack, sedating the animal would be the best option, especially so no one gets hurt, and the cheetah only gets put to sleep. Thankfully no one got attacked or hurt in any way during the race.

The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust held this contest to show awareness that the cheetah is in danger of being classified on the endangered species list. According to De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust, while talking to CNN, that there were nearly 100,000 cheetahs existant in the wild a century ago. Now, however, there are only 8,000 to 10,000 left in the wild.

The executive director of the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust, Vanessa Bouwer, had this to say to CNN about cheetahs endangerment:

"It's absolutely vital that we get to tell people that we are going to lose this beautiful creature and other creatures if they're not aware of the issues: habitat loss, illegal trade, poaching trade." (Vanessa Bouwer to CNN)

Cetane, the cheetah in the race, barely won the first match against Habana. As soon as the first match was over Habana wanted a rematch. In the second match Cetane dominated Habana even moreso than the first match, showing that nature had won in this instance.

Habana, according to CNN, can run an astounding 100 meters in 11 seconds.

You can visit the De Wildt Cheetah and wildlife Trust Fund website by going to http://www.dewildt.org.za/. You can also see vidoes of the race, from many angles I might add, by visiting http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/04/13/cheetah.race/index.html.

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