Sarah (cheetah)


Sarah, also known as Sahara, was a female South African cheetah that lived in the Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sarah was known as the world's fastest land mammal according to National Geographic magazine. She ran 100 meters in 5.95 seconds in 2012 when she was 11 years old. She died on January 22, 2016 at the age of 15.
Sarah came to the Cincinnati Zoo when she was six weeks old and was raised by Cathryn Hiker, who was the founder of the Zoo's Cat Ambassador Program. She was one of the first cheetah cubs to be raised with a puppy companion, who was named Alexa. Throughout her time at the zoo Sarah had many trainers but her favorite was the trainer who raised her, Cathryn Hiker. When it came to completing task Sarah would challenge every trainer except Cathryn and they had a relationship that every trainer would want to have. Even when Sarah was retired she kept on getting constant visits from Cathryn.
As a cat ambassador she was always visiting over a thousand schools in the past decade to show awareness for the plight of the cheetah. She was featured in many print and online magazines and even a local zoo commercial.
Sarah and Alexa, her puppy companion, were lifelong companions. They were in school shows, summer shows and TV appearances together until Alexa retired then Sarah continued to do this by herself.
Sarah greatly surpassed Usain Bolt's 100 meter time of 9.58 seconds. Kim Hubbard said that when Sarah broke the record she looked like a "polka dotted missile."