Some more pictures, this time of cheetahs. These show a mother and two cubs.
I watched them attempt to kill a Ngala but they failed. The mother does all the work and cubs stroll around getting into the spirit of the thing but contributing nothing to the kill. Unlike lions cheetahs do not park the kids when hunting. Cheetahs are the fastest of the predators, they do not retract their claws when but use them for walking or running to gain extra leverage on the ground hence their speed. The claws get worn down and so cheetahs cannot climb trees.
Only one in five cubs survive to adulthood. Cheetahs are preyed upon by other predators especially at the time of a kill. The alarm calls of prey being hunted and killed attract them particularly lions and leopards. As a result when a kill is made the cheetah has to eat quickly to avoid becoming a target. That means they only eat the hind quarters, liver and heart.
They are truly beautiful animals.
I took these pictures at a game reserve in Kwazulu Natal called Phinda from a 4 x 4 from about 25 m away.
No comments:
Post a Comment