Once you watch this video of a cheetah accelerating to top speed, you’ll have a new appreciation for the world’s fastest land animal.
Savanna is one of the hand-raised “cat ambassadors” at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. The big cat recently allowed zookeepers to mount a harness and GoPro to her back to get a cat’s point-of-view of her incredible power.
“We think this might be the first time this has been accomplished with a cheetah,” the zoo noted in its YouTube upload.
But be warned, if you are at all prone to motion sickness, this video is not likely for you.
At more than 60-miles-per-hour – and an incredibly flexible spine – no amount of post-editing stabilization can keep this footage steady. (Cheetahs are known to reach a top speed of nearly 75 miles/hour in short bursts.)
Amazing @gopro video gives a unique look at Savanna the cheetah running at top speed! #GoPro https://t.co/yXYhlaozEn pic.twitter.com/fe8jpT40RN
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) May 26, 2016
(Related, the zoo released this video last week — before officials shot and killed one of its gorillas in order to save a child that had climbed and then fallen into its enclosure. Critics of the zoo’s decision to kill the gorilla, are now directing their anger by posting hostile comments on this cheetah video via social media.)
Photos Cincinnati Zoo/YouTube