In response to provide you more information about the world’s top fastest animals in the world, this article is published with other detail information included. In fact, this article does not only discuss about the terrestrial animals, but also aquatic animals and airborne animals. Hopefully, this article will help you to identify the top fastest animals in the world.
15. African Wild Dog – 71km/h
African Wild Dog is one of the top speed hunters in the world. However, due to disease and killing from human, the African Wild Dog is now endangered. Nowadays, we can find them travel around the sparse woodlands and open spaces of sub-Saharan Africa. Here are the countries where abundant of them are living. They are Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The African Wild Dog can keep up their speed up to 5km at the speed of 60km/h. Nevertheless, their maximum speed can be more than 70km/h. When hunting, they will go on by packs that consist from 6 to 20 of them. Currently, the African Wild Dogs are under protection since their number decrease so much over the years.
14. Ostrich – 72km/h
Ostrich is considered as one of the biggest flightless birds in the world. Normally, people can find them roaming around the African savanna as well as the dessert lands. Although they cannot fly, these large birds can run so quick that it is hard for some predators to kill them. They can sprint up to 72km/h. What is special about them is that they use their wings as a mean to help them alter the directions when running. In spite of having strong legs for running, they can use their legs to kick their hunters. Their kicks can kill people combining with their sharp claws when thrusting. As for their food, they eat plants, seeds, lizards and roots.
13. Thomson’s gazelle – 80km/h
With a similar look to the springbok, the Thomson’s gazelle lives in the grassland, and open spaces with grasses, leaves and shoots. The Thomson’s gazelles are quite nimble, and they can sprint at the speed of 80km/h. However, there are different sources which say that they could run to 96km/h. When being chased by their predators, they are able to zigzag which allow them to escape from their hunters. Due to the environment they are living, they are keen to be the prey of many carnivorous animals such as cheetahs, lions, and wild dogs.
12. Blue Wildebeest – 80km/h
With their numerous population, the Blue wildebeests can breed their calves up to 500,000 each year. These blue wildebeests reside in Africa at eastern, southern and central parts. They like to travel in large herds which provide them a lot of benefit as their predators find it hard to hunt them down. They can sprint up to 80km/h. In fact, they like to live in the grassland and open woodlands.
11. Lion – 81km/h
Over these past year, the number of lions have dropped down noticeably. Humans have been hunting them for pleasures, trading and protect their livestock. Mostly lions can be found in Africa, Europe and Asia. They like to live open woodlands and grassland since they can easily hunt for food. When chasing for food, they can run to their maximum speed of 81km/h. However, they cannot maintain their speed long enough after 200m. As the matter of fact, the primary hunters in the lion prides are the female ones. They both go hunting and raising the cubs. Their normal targets are zebras, antelopes and other animals in the grassland. In Africa, lions always kill humans’ livestock. As a result, people sometimes kill the lions to protect their livestock. While another reason is that the poachers kill them for valuable parts for selling. Nowadays, the African government is paying a close attention on conserving the lions since their number has been going down dramatically.
10. Springbok – 88 km/h
Categorized in the family of antelope, springboks can be seen in the South Africa at the central and western parts. Regarding to their habitat, they can survive in a harsh environment. The prefer living near dry river beds and short grass. Comparing their speed with pronghorns, they are a little slower than pronghorns. They can reach their maximum speed of 88km/h. Besides, they are simply quicker than pronghorns in term of their evasion from their predators. They can turn quickly while running away from their killers. Actually, their predators are normally the big cats, wild dogs and eagles. To escape from their hunters, they normally run as fast as they could and leap to escape from them. They could leap from the ground to 2m height.
9. Pronghorn – 98 km/h
Having the appearance similar to those of the antelopes, pronghorns have such powerful legs that allow them to run very fast. They can sprint up to 98km/h. Actually, people can find pronghorn only in the North America. Here are the areas where pronghorns can be found: Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, northeast California, southeast Oregon, Utah, Colorado, in the Great Plain and New Mexico. They are herbivores. As for its predators, they are wolves, coyotes, bears, cougars and sometimes eagle.
8. Sailfish– 109 km/h
Similar to swordfish and the blue marlin, sailfish is a species known for its pointed bills. Not only is this fish categorized as one of the fastest animals, it also can leap fast too. Sailfish can hunt its preys in the water at the speed of 109km/h. As for the food, they like to eat bony fishes, squids and crustaceans. Furthermore, sailfish is also one of the famous predators in the open ocean. In average, the adult sailfish can be more around 3 meters long with the weight of 100kg. It is known that the largest sailfish that has ever been caught is 3.4 meters and weigh 100kg. Normally, they like to spend most of their time diving to the surface of the ocean to catch their preys.
7. Cheetah – 120 km/h
Known for their speed for hunting their prey, cheetahs can run to its maximum speed of 120km/h. Within 3 seconds, they can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h. In addition to that, they can turn suddenly to catch their prey when they are on the run. While hunting, they are very stealthy with their movement with their disguise in the dry grasses. They always drag their food to safe place after catching due to preventing their food from snatching away by other animals. They drink water once every 3 or 4 days. A Cheetah could live up from 10 to 12 years with the weight up to 143 pounds. Most of their food are gazelles, impala, nyala and reedbuck.
6. Grey-headed Albatross – 127 km/h
Grey-headed albatross is also one of the fastest bird on earth. It can fly for 9 hours continuously with the speed of 127km/h. Actually, Grey-headed albatrosses live at circumpolar across the southern oceans. Unfortunately, it is recently categorized as endangered species. They eat carrion, cephalopods, crustaceans, lampreys and squid fish. Additionally, they can dive into the sea water to 7 meters. In 2004, there were around 250,000 of Grey-headed albatross. Sadly, due to the lack of food and the distance they travel, the number of them keep going down.
5. Black Marlin – 131 km/h
Black marlins live in Indo-Pacific at the tropical and sub-tropical waters. They might also migrate to Atlantic Ocean. The Black marlin can swim in the water at the speed of 131km/h. The Black marlins are dangerous since they have strong jaw like spear and amazing dorsal fin. As for their prey, they consume cuttlefish, dolphinfish, mackerels, octopuses, swordfish, squid and tuna. According to the study, it is said that the Black marlin use their long sharp bills to cut their food. However, people also hunt this fish for market and sell them in US and Japan. What you should be aware of is that eating Black marlin is prohibited in Australia due they contain so high mercury and selenium in their meat.
4. Pigeon – 149 km/h
Pigeons can be found in many parts of the world especially in Asia, Europe and North Africa. For the wild pigeons, they build their nests at inland cliffs as well as coastal cliffs. As for the Feral pigeons usually build their nest on or in the building at the urban areas. Pigeons is also one of the fastest animal on the list. They can fly at the speed of 149km/h over 60 km. For their food, they like to eat fruit and insects. As for the pigeons living in the urban, they eat seeds, berries and vegetables. There are also some interesting facts about the pigeons too. They can fly at 6,000 feet altitudes, and could fly between 600 to 700 miles in a day.
3. Mexican free-tailed bat – 160 km/h
Mexican free-tailed bats live in Central America, the western US, south through Mexico, and northern South America. Actually, they are listed as one of the fastest animals in the world. They travel at the speed of 160km/h when they travel up and down the Pacific Ocean. During the winter, they normally migrate to the Mexico and Central America. They like to live in the caves, under the bridges or abandon buildings. As for their foods, they like to eat insects especially the moths. It is estimated that around 250 tons of insects are eaten by the bats every night. The enemies of these bats are cats, owls, raccoons and snakes.
2. Golden eagle – 240 km/h
Golden eagles are the second fastest animal after Peregrine falcon. What is special about them are how it can effortlessly change their speed when hunting for food. Normally, they first fly at the speed of 50km/h, but change their speed up to 20km/h upon seeing their prey. Their weights are between 3 to 6.5Kg. The Golden eagle can be seen in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. Moreover, these birds also can be glimpsed in the Highlands of Scotland. They eat rabbits, hares, rodents, deer, birds and reptiles. The interesting fact about this Golden eagle is that they could hover in the air for hours. Furthermore, they sometimes hunt for their prey in pair. They actually swap their roles for hunting when ones are tired. The prey they hunt is hard to escape when they keep their eyes on them.
1. Peregrine falcon – over 350 km/h
Rarely do they miss its prey, Peregrine falcons are the fastest animal on earth. They are known that the Peregrine falcons’ speed could be over 350 km/h. To be exact, their maximum speed when hunting the prey reach to 390km/h. As the matter of fact, the Peregrine falcons live across the world and you can find 4 subspecies in Africa. If we fly at the speed of 350km/h, our lungs could be seriously damaged. However, the Peregrine falcons have special nostrils which help them breath normally under the great pressure from the air. Besides, they have 3 eyelids which help them to wipe away the dirt. Most of the prey they hunt are shorebirds, ducks, gulls, pigeons and songbirds. They sometimes steal prey such as fish and rodents from other animals too. Lastly, they built their nest up high on the cliff at the height of 1,300 feet or higher.