A car races across an African plain at dusk, a startled animal galloping beside it. The driver glances at the speedometer and calls out a number. Decades later, that number is still being copied into books and websites as the animal’s “top speed.”
Most famous animal top speeds were never measured with modern tools. Many come from car speedometers or plain guesses. Only a few, such as the cheetah’s 93 km/h (58 mph) from GPS collars in Botswana, come from careful measurements. In a 1983 study the zoologist Theodore Garland called the speeds for tigers and leopards “more or less anecdotal” (Garland 1983).
Key takeaways
- Measured: the cheetah (GPS and stopwatch), racehorses, greyhounds, Asian elephants and Usain Bolt have been properly timed.
- Guessed: the top speeds of tigers, lions, leopards and jaguars are estimates. The jaguar’s popular 80 km/h has nothing behind it.
- Busted: sailfish do not swim at 110 km/h. That figure came from fishermen’s records of hooked fish, and a 2016 study puts the real top speed at about 30 km/h.
How were famous animal speeds worked out?
Mostly from a car driving alongside. In his review of running speeds for more than 100 mammals, Garland noted that most large mammals’ speeds were “estimated from the speedometer of a pursuing automobile.” Others were subjective guesses by field biologists. Only a handful, such as people, dogs and horses, had been timed accurately over a measured distance.
Speedometer readings can mislead. If the animal runs on the inside of a curve, the car has to go faster just to keep level, which can make the animal look much faster than it is, Garland warned. He also noted that when large animals were filmed, the speeds worked out from the film were lower than the highest speeds reported for the same species.
Garland labelled each speed in his table by method: S for speedometer, T for timed over a measured distance, F for film, E for a subjective estimate, and U for unknown. Those labels are where much of this article’s detective work starts.
Which animal speeds are really measured, and which are guesses?
Here is our summary of the evidence. Speeds are top sprint speeds. The “How reliable?” column is our own rating, based on the method behind the best figure.
| Animal | Claim you often see | Where it came from | What was actually measured | How reliable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheetah | 110–120 km/h (70–75 mph) | Older estimates of 101–121 km/h; Garland used 110 km/h | 103.5 km/h, average of 3 timed runs by a captive female (1965); 93 km/h top speed from GPS collars on 5 wild cheetahs (2013) | ✅ Strong: timed and GPS |
| Tiger | 49–65 km/h (30–40 mph) | 56 km/h, a subjective estimate by George Schaller (1967) | Nothing. Never timed or tracked at top speed | ⚠️ Weak: estimate |
| Lion | 53–59 km/h (33–37 mph) | 59 km/h, an estimate by Schaller (1972); San Diego Zoo gives 53 km/h for a lioness | Nothing published with modern tracking | ⚠️ Weak: estimate |
| Leopard | About 60 km/h (37 mph) | Estimates from Turnbull-Kemp (1967) and Schaller (1972) | Nothing | ⚠️ Weak: estimate |
| Jaguar | 80 km/h (50 mph) | No traceable source | Nothing | ❌ None |
| Pronghorn | About 100 km/h (60 mph) | Reports from 65 to 113 km/h; Garland used 100 km/h | Speedometer readings and estimates | ⚠️ Weak to moderate |
| Grizzly bear | 48 km/h (30 mph) | A speedometer reading (Breland 1963) | One method only, no modern tracking | ⚠️ Weak to moderate |
| Elephant | 40 km/h (25 mph) | Older books gave 24 or 40 km/h for African elephants | Asian elephants timed with light sensors: up to about 24 km/h (15 mph) | ✅ Good (Asian elephants) |
| Racehorse | 70 km/h (43 mph) | Timed races, listed in the Guinness Book of Records (1980) and cited by Garland | Timed over a measured distance | ✅ Strong |
| Greyhound | 67 km/h (42 mph) | Timed races, listed in the Guinness Book of Records (1980) and cited by Garland | Timed over a measured distance | ✅ Strong |
| Sailfish | About 110 km/h (68 mph) | Fishermen’s records of hooked fish (1941, 1960) | About 30 km/h (8.3 m/s) from muscle tests; up to 8.19 m/s filmed while hunting | ❌ Claim busted |
| Human (Usain Bolt) | About 44 km/h (27 mph) | Split times from his 100 m races | 12.34 m/s in his fastest 10 m sections | ✅ Strong |
Sources: Garland 1983 (including the horse and greyhound times); Guinness World Records; Wilson et al. 2013 (via Royal Veterinary College); San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance; National Geographic; Hutchinson et al. 2003 (via University of Colorado); Svendsen et al. 2016; Mackala and Mero 2013. The ratings are ours.
How fast is a cheetah, really?
Between about 93 and 104 km/h (58 and 64 mph) at the very most. In 1965 Craig Sharp timed a captive female cheetah chasing a lure over 201 m, and her average over three runs was 103.5 km/h (64.3 mph), says Guinness World Records. The figure was not published until 1997.
Wild cheetahs have now been measured too. Alan Wilson’s team fitted GPS collars to five cheetahs in Botswana’s Okavango Delta and recorded 367 runs over 17 months. The top speed was 93 km/h (58 mph), and the average run was only about 173 m (190 yd) long, reported the Royal Veterinary College. Earlier figures of up to 121 km/h, listed by Garland, have never been matched.
How fast are tigers, lions, leopards and jaguars?
Nobody knows exactly. None of these big cats has been timed at top speed with GPS or a stopwatch. Garland’s table traces the usual tiger, lion and leopard speeds to subjective estimates by field biologists in the 1960s and 1970s. The jaguar has no traceable figure at all. The honest answer for all four is a range of roughly 50 to 65 km/h.
- Tiger: National Geographic says tigers reach “bursts above 35 miles an hour” (56 km/h). Garland’s 56 km/h comes from George Schaller’s 1967 book The Deer and the Tiger, marked as an estimate. See how fast a tiger can run.
- Lion: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a lioness can sprint at up to 53 km/h (33 mph). Garland’s 59 km/h is also a Schaller estimate. Lionesses are smaller and faster than males, Garland notes.
- Leopard: about 60 km/h, again an estimate, from Turnbull-Kemp (1967) and Schaller (1972).
- Jaguar: no published speed. Jaguars hunt by ambush in forest and swamp, at night, where nobody can drive beside them. See how fast a jaguar can run.
Picture it: claimed vs measured
Each pair of bars is drawn to the same scale (120 km/h = full width). The pale bar is the famous claim; the dark bar is the best measurement.
Cheetah: claim up to 121 · measured 93 (wild, GPS)
Sailfish: claim about 110 · estimated from muscle about 30
Elephant: claim 40 · measured about 24 (Asian elephants)
Jaguar: claim 80 · measured nothing
You (Usain Bolt’s best 10 m): about 44
Sources: Garland 1983; Wilson et al. 2013; Svendsen et al. 2016; Hutchinson et al. 2003; Mackala and Mero 2013.
Do sailfish really swim at 110 km/h?
No. The old figures of over 30 m/s (more than 100 km/h) came from “fishermen’s records of hooked specimens,” says a 2016 study in Biology Open by Morten Svendsen and colleagues. Those claims were published in 1941 and 1960. The team instead measured how fast sailfish muscle can contract and estimated a top speed of about 8.3 m/s, or roughly 30 km/h (19 mph).
Above about 10 to 15 m/s, water would start to boil into bubbles around the fins, a process called cavitation that damages fin tissue, the authors explain. Filmed sailfish hunting sardines reached up to 8.19 m/s, a separate study found. So the sailfish is fast, but nowhere near a cheetah.
How fast can an elephant run?
About 24 km/h (15 mph), as far as anyone has measured. In 2003 John Hutchinson and colleagues timed 42 Asian elephants in Thailand over 188 trials, using light sensors and video. Some reached about 15 mph, and three went a little faster, the University of Colorado reported. Older books gave African elephants 24 or 40 km/h, and a researcher Garland consulted doubted the higher figure.
Elephants do not gallop. Even at top speed they never have all four feet off the ground at once. See how fast an elephant can run for the full story.
Why do speed myths matter for wild animals?
Speed shapes how a hunter fits into its ecosystem. A cheetah chases prey in the open over a short sprint, while tigers, jaguars and leopards stalk close and ambush prey, so they rarely need top speed at all. Getting speeds wrong hides that difference. The Botswana study found that grip and quick turns mattered more than top speed for catching prey.
Honest numbers also help protect animals. An ambush hunter such as the jaguar depends on cover and on plenty of prey nearby, not on outrunning anything. Read more on the fastest animals in the world.
Myths about animal speed
Myth: Cheetahs run at 120 km/h (75 mph).
Fact: The best timed run was 103.5 km/h, and wild cheetahs on GPS reached 93 km/h. Why people believe it: older books listed estimates up to 121 km/h, and big numbers get repeated.
Myth: Jaguars can run at 80 km/h (50 mph).
Fact: No study has measured a jaguar’s speed. Why people believe it: speeds seem to be borrowed from one cat for another, and nobody checks the source.
Myth: The sailfish is the fastest fish, at about 110 km/h.
Fact: Muscle tests suggest about 30 km/h. Why people believe it: the figure came from fishermen’s records of hooked fish in the 1940s and was repeated for decades.
Test yourself
1. How were most big-animal speeds first measured?
By driving a car alongside and reading the speedometer, or by a biologist’s estimate.
2. What top speed did GPS collars record for wild cheetahs?
93 km/h (58 mph).
3. Why is the 110 km/h sailfish speed wrong?
It came from fishermen’s records of hooked fish. Muscle tests suggest a top speed of about 30 km/h, and faster swimming would damage the fins through cavitation.
Where to next?
➡️ Go wider: the fastest animals in the world⬆️ Go deeper: how the cheetah’s body is built for speed🔀 Go sideways: how fast a tiger can run, and why it doesn’t need to
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest land animal ever measured?
The cheetah. A captive female was timed at an average of 103.5 km/h (64.3 mph) over 201 m in 1965, and wild cheetahs on GPS collars in Botswana reached 93 km/h (58 mph) in a study published in 2013. No other land animal has a measured speed close to this.
Is a lion faster than a tiger?
Nobody can say for sure, because neither has been properly timed. San Diego Zoo gives 53 km/h for a lioness, and National Geographic says tigers burst above 56 km/h. Garland’s older figures, 59 km/h for lions and 56 km/h for tigers, are both estimates. The gap is smaller than the error.
How fast can a grizzly bear run?
About 48 km/h (30 mph), according to an old speedometer reading listed by Garland in 1983. It has not been checked with modern tracking. Either way, a grizzly can easily outrun a person, so never run from a bear. See how fast a polar bear can run for a close relative.
Why are animal speeds so hard to measure?
Wild animals rarely run flat out on command, and they do it on rough ground, often at night or in thick cover. Old methods such as reading a car’s speedometer can overestimate speed on curves. GPS collars and high-speed cameras are better, but only a few species have been studied this way.
Sources
- Garland, T. (1983). The relation between maximal running speed and body mass in terrestrial mammals. Journal of Zoology 199: 157-170.
- Guinness World Records. Fastest mammal on land, over short distances (Sharp, Journal of Zoology 241: 493-494, 1997).
- ScienceDaily (Royal Veterinary College news release) (2013). Wild cheetahs accelerate fast and reach speeds of up to 58 miles per hour during a hunt (on Wilson et al., Nature 498: 185-189).
- Svendsen, M. B. S. et al. (2016). Maximum swimming speeds of sailfish and three other large marine predatory fish species based on muscle contraction time and stride length: a myth revisited. Biology Open 5(10): 1415-1419.
- University of Colorado Boulder (2003). Can elephants really run? Yes and no, say researchers (on Hutchinson et al., Nature 422: 493-494).
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Lion.
- National Geographic. A cry for the tiger.
- Mackala, K. and Mero, A. (2013). A kinematics analysis of three best 100 m performances ever. Journal of Human Kinetics 36: 149-160.
Sources checked 12 October 2026.
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