This is starting to read like a post on repeat. Cheetah hunts antelope. Cheetah catches antelope. Cheetah starts to feed but lion/leopard/hyena robs it of it’s hard-earned meal. It happened again, this time to the male cheetah, on the day he returned to Londolozi territory.
He had been spending a few days west of us, but early one morning one of the Londolozi staff workers, driving in to the lodge for the day, radioed ahead to say that he had spied a solitary cheetah on the main access road to camp. Radioing in for the position, we sped to there and arrived just as the sun was poking up over the horizon. Sure enough, the male cheetah was on a termite mound, scanning the valley below him for any hunting opportunity which might present itself. He tried for some kudu initially, but they spotted him fairly soon and sounded the alarm with their big, booming bark. The cheetah moved off down the slope, eventually perching on an elevated cluster of Dolerite boulders.
We could see that he was watching a mixed herd of impala and zebra to our north, but we lost sight of him as he moved off the rocks to begin his approach. He was on the wrong side of an exposed dirt track that ran between him and the herbivores, and we never even saw him cross it when suddenly the herd scattered in panic. The cheetah had hurtled in, through a minefield of grass-covered rocks and Spikethorn bushes, too quick for our eyes to follow. When Sandros Sihlangu found him again a few minutes later, he had a dead impala ram at his feet.
His deep chest moved in and out rapidly as he recovered after the chase, but he was not to enjoy the spoils. A hyena, having heard the commotion, came sniffing along to investigate, and from there it was a foregone conclusion. The hyena raced in to steal the kill, but surprisingly the cheetah stood his ground. Arching his back and erecting his fur to make himself look as large as possible, hissing all the while, the cheetah could only watch in dismay as he lost yet another meal to a rival predator.
Have a look at this sequence of photos showing the cheetah bristling at the hyena’s approach:
The cheetah’s hackles raise as he watches the hyena advancing.
The hyena, after sniffing around for a short while, catches sight of the cheetah and its kill and charges in.
bristling and arching his back to make himself look bigger, the cheetah hopes to intimidate the hyena into backing down.
The nose of the hyena can be seen coming into the frame on the left.
The cheetah jumps out of the way as the hyena has eyes only for the impala carcass.
The hyena grabs the kill.
A last despairing growl as the hyena drags the impala away.
Disappointment.
The hyena settles down to feed.
Written and Photographed by James Tyrrell
James, what a pity that they can’t climb trees like the leopards, then his grub would be safe, unless a leopard decided to “investigate” 🙂
Lovely pictures & write up as usual thanks a ton for sharing. I’ve had the most wonderful start to the week with a post a day – yay!!! very lekker 🙂
It was fantastic to personally witness this, one of several amazing sites witnessed during my 4 nights at Londolozi. Thanks to Sandros, what a ranger!
Hi James,Feel so sorry for the poor Cheetah losing her meal to a hyena.She could have been very hungry.Good story supported by very good action photos
Damn Hyenas! Great shots James!!
As much as I cheer for the Tsalalas, I cheer for any cheetah MORE! Cheetah are…………..indescribable!
I want them to succeed! Love that the male took a stand against the hyena! One small step against the intruder, 1 GIANT step for cheetah on Londolozi!! 🙂
Here’s hoping the ‘chain’ becomes complete for the cheetah et al. from the Kruger through the Karoo!!!!
Exciting action shots, James! I could just about hear his hiss!!
Shoot the hyenas. Well, not all as we need them to clean up the carcasses but this is to much!
Hi John,
The hyenas form an integral part of the ecosystem here and throughout Africa. I think they have been painted in a bad light by many animated films (no names mentioned) but without them the system would fall out of balance.
The hyena needs to survive too and is just doing what it does naturally.
James
Hi James!
Do cheetahs ever succeed in driving off hyenas from their kills or is this the same case over and over again??
I just get disappointed every time i see this in a wildlife documentary…..
Henry.
Hi Henry,
I’m afraid this is pretty much the standard scenario. You may have cases where male coalitions of cheetahs (brothers often stick together) could defend a kill against a small hyena, but cheetahs can ill afford to get injured, and would far rather give up a kill and hunt for another than potentially receive a bone-crushing bite from a strong-jawed animal like a hyena.
James
Thanks for the awesome pictures.
Interesting that eating become s such a very stressful time for cheetahs, constantly looking over their shoulders for these approaching marauders.
We were fortunate recently to witness two young males, maybe brothers , bringing down an impala in the KNP and they did get to eat him – we watched for nearly an hour while they circled anxiously, keeping ther distance and taking turns eventually to eat while the other brother kept a lookout.
Look forward to being at Londolozi next March.
Very good photography and even better story.Feel so very sorry for the poor cheetah – they have the speed but not the build to match the hyenas.Thanks for sharing this fantastic story!!!!!