We haven’t posted anything on the female cheetah and her two cubs for awhile, but the good news is that they all appear to be in great health.
They have been in and out of Londolozi, criss-crossing the Sabi Sand Reserve, and, as witnessed in today’s fourth and final instalment (for now) of John Mohaud’s “Superb Run of Sightings”, they have been hunting as successfully as ever.
The three had been found near the Londolozi airstrip in the morning, and had then ventured north past the Londolozi camps, crossing the Sand River towards the grassy crests up beyond the far bank. Resting up during the heat of the day, they eventually started getting going as the sun descended slowly towards the western horizon, when impalas alarming caught their attention, as well as the attention of the rangers that were sitting watching them.
Running right past where the cheetahs were resting, two lions suddenly burst from the thickets; one of the Birmingham males was in pursuit of the young Ottawa male. As they disappeared over the hill, with a couple of Land Rovers following the action.
Crisis for some is opportunity for others, and with the impalas distracted by the lions, the young male cheetah raced in and had grabbed a young ram before the startled antelope even knew what was happening.
The mother, her blind eye clearly visible, keeps watch as her now sub-adult offspring begin to feed. When on a kill, they will take turns lifting their heads to scan for danger.
Cheetah mothers have often been recorded catching young antelope but not killing them, then calling their cubs, releasing the prey and giving the cubs the chance to take down the fleeing antelope. Given the relative scarcity of these cats on Londolozi it is not something we have witnessed many times ourselves, but the previous female cheetah and her cubs was recorded doing it by then-ranger Chris Goodman. Click here to watch that video.
The young male cheetah in this instance seemed to have a fairly good grip on his impala prey, but had not managed to asphyxiate it properly, and as it made one last desperate attempt to escape, the mother cheetah had to lunge in and finish the job herself, as can be seen in the video below:
Cheetahs will invariably gorge themselves while there is food available. Being the lowest rung on the large predator hierarchy, they will be outcompeted by most big carnivores that might happen along, so they feed as fast as they can, while they can.
It’s not always a pretty sight, but it’s nature at its most raw. The two sub-adults look up from their meal towards where some impalas were alarming in the distance.
Since this sighting the cheetah family have been on the move once more, returning to the slow circle they have been walking between the various sectors of the Sabi Sand reserve. Thankfully it seems our early misgivings about the mother’s ability to hunt with her blind eye were wide of the mark, and even if she has been impaired in her effectiveness, it seems her offspring are starting to take up the mantle more and more.
With the impala lambing season about to commence, the three cheetahs should hopefully not be lacking for feeding opportunities in the next few months.
Had the exact same experience on the first full day of our first visit to Londolozi. I could not believe what we were seeing as we watched the cheetah carefully stalk an impala and then turned it directly at our vehicle. It took it down less than 20 yards from us. As in the current instance, it got its 2 cubs to finish the act, with each carefully taking turns to watch for scavengers. It was a life-changing experience for me–realizing that these events occur daily. We went from being horrified by the blood to understanding the roles that mothers play in the training of their youngsters. I can still hear the sounds of the chase.
Thanks for the story! I wonder if her problems will start when the youngsters will leave her. With only one eye, perhaps it will be difficult to see depth etc., so it will be hard for her to catch prey. Won’t it?
I never cease to be amazed and impressed watching mothers in the wild teach their young survival skills. The video clip of the mother stepping in to finish what her young ones couldn’t, at that point at least, is the perfect example. As they roam the reserve, there continues to be excellent sightings and we all look forward to hopefully watching these young cheetahs grown into full adulthood. Blind eye or not, it’s hard to put a good mother down! (First step son is to get a good grip to the neck) Haha….
“Nature in the raw” is right. While at Londolozi I thought the impala were beautiful animals, but one must never forget they–and most animals–are just part of the natural food chain. These are amazing photos. Thank you.
Glad to hear and see that the cheetah family is doing so well. We were at Londolozi in September and saw them a few times over the 6 days that we were there.
Score one for the cheetahs and their hunting success. Certainly looking forward to a sighting of these three later this week.
Hi James. As you say – hard to watch – but from the Cheetah Mom’s point of view – absolutely essential training for her youngsters. We humans are taught “never play with your food!” – but we are not wild life in the Bush trying to survive. Wendy M
Awesome story and nice photos.
It is lovely to see that the cheetah family are doing well and surviving.
James, do you know which of the sub-adults is the male and which is the female in the photo above? Am working on putting together ID kits for them. Thanks for any help you may be able to provide