Sarah the cheetah, world's fastest land mammal, dies in Ohio zoo
Source: Reuters
Sarah the cheetah, world's fastest land mammal, dies in Ohio zoo
Reuters
By Kim Palmer
10 hours ago
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Sarah the cheetah is seen as a young cub with her puppy companion named Alexa in
this undated handout
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Thursday that Sarah, a cheetah designated the world's fastest land mammal by National Geographic magazine in 2012, has died at the age of 15.
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden said in a statement that it had euthanized Sarah on Wednesday due to her "diminishing quality of life." The average life span of a cheetah, the fastest land mammal, is eight to 12 years, the zoo said.
Sarah was dubbed the fastest cheetah when she ran 100 meters in 5.95 seconds, or 61 mph (98.2 kph), during the filming of a National Geographic special, beating her previous world record of 6.13 seconds in 2009.
Cameras captured the record-breaking run on Sarah's first attempt as she chased a fluffy dog toy lure on a specially designed course certified by the Road Running Technical Council of USA Track & Field, the national governing body for running and walking organized sports.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/sarah-cheetah-worlds-fastest-land-mammal-dies-ohio-212807295.html