Top 10 Fastest Animals
Welcome, speed enthusiasts, thrill-seekers, and aspiring contenders in the race of life! Today, we embark on a whimsical journey through the animal kingdom’s version of the Indy 500, where the only fuel is raw power and the finish line is blurred by a blur of fur, feathers, and fins. Get ready to buckle up (metaphorically speaking, of course) as we unveil the “Top 10 Fastest Animals in the World”! From the majestic cheetah, a four-legged Ferrari, to the humble peregrine falcon, the feathered fighter jet of the skies, we’ll explore the land, sea, and air-speed records set by nature’s most nimble creatures. So, grab your popcorn, prepare to be amazed, and let’s rev our engines for an adrenaline-fueled adventure through the wild side of velocity! Which animal do you think is the fastest in the world? It’s certainly not the cheetah, that much can be revealed at this point!
The fastest animals in the world TOP 10
- Lion
- African ostrich
- Hare
- Pronghorn
- Goitered gazelle
- Cheetah
- Brazilian free-tailed bat
- Black marlin
- Golden eagle
- Peregrine falcon
We show you which ten animals are the fastest on earth – in descending order, for the sake of suspense.
10. Lion
The lion does not like to live alone, but in a herd with conspecifics from the cat family. It is now native to Africa and the Indian state of Gujarat. There it mainly hunts antelopes, gazelles and zebras, which is not always easy for it.
The lion is a poor long-distance runner. It can only reach a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour for a very short time. If you like to feel like a lion among the beasts, you can spin slots and be a king at an online casino. We recommend visiting Wanted Win Casino Online and trying out their huge collection of games.
9. Common ostrich
The African ostrich is the largest living bird in the world. The males reach a height of up to 2.75 meters. Its home is in Africa south of the Sahara. However, the African ostrich cannot fly, but it can run quite fast.
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The ratite can reach speeds of up to 72 kilometers per hour when it’s in top form. This makes it far superior to its natural enemies, the lions and leopards, in terms of speed. In addition, it usually stays in groups that watch out for danger together.
8. True hare
Is there also a fake hare? Yes, but it’s a meatloaf. The true hare is the name given to a genus of hare that has around 30 subspecies and is particularly widespread in Europe, Asia and North America.
A hare can usually reach a speed of up to 57 kilometers per hour over a short distance. The top speed measured to date is 80 kilometers per hour over a distance of 20 meters.
7. Pronghorn
The pronghorn is also known as the pronghorn antelope and lives on grass and leaves in the prairies of North America. It is the only living member of the pronghorn family, slightly larger than a deer.
In contrast to the lion, the pronghorn is an excellent long-distance runner. It can cover a distance of eleven kilometers in ten minutes at an average speed of 56 kilometers per hour. Its maximum speed is 89 kilometers per hour.
6. Goitered gazelle
The goitered gazelle, also known as the black-tailed gazelle, is a species found in Central Asia and the Near East. It is named for the goiter-like enlargement on the throat of the males during the mating season.
A Goitered gazelle can reach a top speed of 97 kilometers per hour. In most cases, it can easily outrun its natural enemies. The species is found in various countries, including Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and China, and inhabits sands, gravel plains, and limestone plateaus. The goitered gazelle is a globally distributed species, and its conservation is influenced by factors such as climate and habitat suitability.
5. Cheetah
The cheetah, which, like the lion, belongs to the cat family, is the fastest mammal in the world. However, it can only run its insane sprint for a distance of around 400 meters to snatch gazelles and antelopes.
Measurements of its maximum speed vary and range from 96 to 120 kilometers per hour. Like the African ostrich, it lives mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The tiny remaining populations in Asia are on the brink of extinction.
4. Brazilian free-tailed bat
The Mexican free-tailed, also known as the Brazilian free-tailed bat, is one of the most common mammals in North America. Its favorite prey are insects, which it catches in flight using echolocation.
With a tailwind, the Mexican bulldog bat reaches a top speed of an impressive 160 kilometers per hour. It grows up to 9 centimeters long, of which its tail makes up almost half, and has a body weight of around 12.3 grams.
3. Black marlin
The black marlin holds the title of the fastest fish in the world. It belongs to the swordfish family and is mainly found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its favorite food is small squid, but it also preys on large crabs.
An escape speed of 130 kilometers per hour was measured during a documentary by the British broadcaster BBC. This puts the black marlin in third place in this ranking.
2. Golden eagle
Let’s move on to second place, which is occupied by the golden eagle. It mainly colonises the open and semi-open landscapes of the Holarctic. It feeds on mammals weighing up to 15 kilograms.
In gliding flight, the golden eagle reaches a speed of around 190 kilometers per hour. In a dive, on the other hand, it can reach speeds of up to 320 kilometers per hour. This means it hardly gives its victims a chance to escape once it is in hunting mode.
1. Peregrine falcon
This is the fastest animal in the world: the peregrine falcon. It is also one of the most widespread birds in the world, colonising all continents except Antarctica – and there are primarily all types of mountainous landscapes and cliffs.
So how fast is the peregrine falcon? The top speed measured to date is 389 kilometers per hour. It uses this speed to hunt other birds in the open, surprising them with a steep or low dive and often killing them on impact.
The fastest animals by type of locomotion
To find out which animals fly, run and swim the fastest, here are the absolute top 20:
- Fastest bird (in a dive) Peregrine falcon 322 km/h
- Fastest mammal (flying) Brazilian free-tailed bat 160 km/h
- Fastest bird (flying) Common swift 171 km/h
- Fastest insect (flying) Horse fly 140 km/h
- Fastest fish Black marlin 130 km/h
- Fastest land animal (short distance) Cheetah 90-120 km/h
- Fastest dragonfly (when flying) Australian dragonfly 96 km/h
- Fastest dog Greyhound 74 km/h
- Fastest bird (running) Common Ostrich 72 km/h
- Fastest hare European hare 70 km/h
- Fastest marsupial kangaroo 70 km/h
- Fastest marine mammal Orca 56 km/h
- Fastest seal California sea lion 40 km/h
- Fastest reptile (running) Perentie 40 km/h
- Fastest bird (in the water) Gentoo penguin 35 km/h
- Fastest reptile (in the water) Leatherback sea turtle 35 km/h
- Fastest snake Black mamba 23 km/h
- Fastest insect (running) Sand beetle 9 km/h
- Fastest millipede spider walker 0.4 m/second
- Fastest starfish Sun star 3 m/minute
Average or maximum speed
Animals on the run or the hunt can move very fast for short periods. If you’re running a little late because you’d otherwise miss the bus or your first lesson at school, you’ll run much faster than usual.
But: you certainly won’t be running around all day at this pace. That would be far too strenuous. It’s the same with animals. The speeds mentioned here therefore only apply to short distances.
How do you measure the speed of animals?
Cameras are used for this purpose, for example, which are also used in road traffic to flash speeding drivers.
Stopwatches or collars with a speedometer are also used. Some scientists follow the animals by car and read the speed from the speedometer. But what do all these techniques have in common?
Speed cannot be measured with absolute precision. That’s why there are always different statements and everyone claims to be right. This often leads to disputes among scientists. Therefore commonly states speed as “from to”. For example, 90-120 km/h.
Take the cheetah, for example:
Driving alongside it in a car would be pointless, as it changes direction often and quickly and, as a wild animal, cannot be trained to run along a long, straight track.
To measure its speed, you therefore put a collar on it and wait until it chases a prey animal. However, this does not mean that the cheetah runs as fast as POSSIBLE. To conserve its energy, it only runs as fast as it NEEDS to. And only 400-500 meters.
Fun facts
Cockroaches are faster than expected
It is also astonishing that some animals are only supposedly slow. A cockroach can easily keep up with a person marching at a brisk pace, while the sand beetle is even faster. And if you don’t pedal your bike fast enough, you could be overtaken by an iguana!
More articles about fast animals
Here you can find everything about the fastest land animals, the fastest birds in the world and the fastest fish.
