You're right about the claws -- it's one of the things the trainers mentioned. Other fun facts about cheetahs: they're the only cats that hunt by day; they need to rest for 20 minutes after putting on a burst of speed; 8 out of 10 baby cheetahs are killed by lions looking to remove the competition, even though they hunt completely different prey; after the last Ice Age, there were only a dozen or so cheetahs left alive, so the cheetah population has very little genetic diversity and is highly susceptable to disease. Fascinating stuff.