Cheetahs are carnivores that eat tiny animals that they can readily hunt and kill. According to the San Diego Zoo, this contains smaller antelopes such as Thomson's gazelles and springboks, as well as rabbits, porcupines, and ground-dwelling birds. They consume the meat rapidly before more aggressive predators such as leopards, lions, baboons, jackals, and hyenas arrive and compel them to give it up. Vultures can even chase them away. Cheetahs are swift, but they aren't powerful or aggressive enough to pull their prey a long-distance or protect it from these ferocious competitors. Cheetahs only require water every three to four days.