In the animal kingdom, speed is everything and can mean the difference between life and death. Whether it be predators using their speed to overtake and overpower their prey, or the prey animals that have fewer defences who solely rely on speed to avoid becoming dinner. We all either know or have heard that the fastest land animal is by far the cheetah, reaching unfathomable top speeds of 112km/hr or 70mhp. Capable of a 0-60mph acceleration in under three seconds, cheetahs would rival some of the fastest supercars. They are phenomenal athletes, perfectly designed in every way to reach these speeds, and quite simply I’m not sure how anything is supposed to get away from a cheetah.
Truly designed for speed, in every way.
Anyway, this blog is not going to take you down the route of how the cheetah is designed to reach its top speed or how its anatomy is unlike that of any other animals. I am going to take you through how the lightning-quick reactions of a cheetah saved a particular cheetah’s life and most likely the lives of her two offspring.
As previously mentioned in a few blogs, we were spoilt with a bout of incredible cheetah viewing. We had a mother and her two sub-adult sons roaming the reserve for a couple of weeks. One particular morning, having only been on a game drive for a matter of minutes, we found the trio resting on the Londolozi airstrip and was swiftly joined by two other vehicles, Nick and Shaun. The three of us then followed the trio as they got up and were walking in the direction of a nearby waterhole. Preempting a low-angle drinking shot of the cheetah we parked our vehicles on the opposite side of the waterhole.
Knowing very well that there are most likely crocodiles in the larger waterholes, most animals are extremely cautious when approaching to have a drink. There was no difference to the trio approaching their morning drink, they approached with caution. The mother was less inclined to walk straight up to the edge of the water, compared to the inexperienced youngsters. Scanning the surroundings she eventually chose her perfect spot.
Laying in wait was a sly, cunning prehistoric beast that’s species has been around for millennia, and for good reason, due to the patience and brilliant tactics of being able to sneak right up the edge of the water underneath their prey’s nose.
She hadn’t been drinking for long before one of her sons approached her. Already on edge, this gave her a slight fright, and in the split second she returns to drink.
Shortly after that the weeds on the surface of the water erupted in her face.
Thankfully for the miniature fright her son had given her, she was locked and loaded ready to react. Springing herself at least six feet in the air, directly over the crocodile’s head, she found herself landing in the water. As fast as she had taken flight it appeared as though she ran on the water to get to safety.
Below is a video of the sighting for you to see for yourself just how close it was.
What are the chances that the crocodile had been lying in wait, right there, in the perfect spot that she chose? Or had the crocodile been able to follow the movement of her silhouette through the weeds. With a decent amount of experience under her belt, it’s strange that the cheetah chose the part of the waterhole covered in the most amount of weeds. However, her positioning at the waterhole led to an incredible sighting and I was so pleased to be in the right place at the right time in order to capture the whole event on camera.
Representing Londolozi, Cheetah wins Gold Medal 🥇 for the standing broad jump with a twist. She met a new Olympic record for surviving using the stotting method. From the side lines, the Impalas are not impressed and move on.
Brilliant commentary Linda. Thankfully for the amazing reactions of the cheetah, she got away with her life.
Thank you Sean i love cheetah to bits i feel a sort of empathy with those frail and resilient animals at the same time. They are the jolly of the savannahs. I am relieved they survive every time i hear good news on them my heart fills with joy
I am so glad we could help fill your heart with joy as we bring you more good news on the cheetahs.
Sean, Great catch. BTW can you update us on the progress of the Ostrich family?
Thank you
Hi Andrew and Daniel, yes sure. Currently, I believe that there are five youngsters from last year’s clutch that have survived and have been roaming the open grasslands. The male has been seen and I am sure will have mated with some of the females so we would expect to find a nest or two soon.
This was an amazing scene to witness! Thanks for making that possible. We have been enjoying your Virtual Safaris every week too. You had ‘big shoes’ to fill, but you are doing a great job!
Thank you so much, Darlene. They were so enormous shoes to fill so thank you for your support.
Ps i nearly lost this post! Than found it in my emails thankfully ! I couldn’t miss it
I am so glad you found it, Francesca.
Agility + split-second timing = life saving maneuver! Just goes to show experience is essential to survival with a a bit of luck thrown in for good measure. Nice to see again.
Experience goes a long way in survival out here, but there is also a huge amount of luck involved as well.
Sean, that is one of the most incredible videos ever! Seeing that Cheetah jump that high in the air was just incredible! How lucky to have caught that on video!
Thank you, Michael and Terri, it was an amazing sighting and I am so glad I was able to be there and capture the whole thing on film to then be able to share it with everyone.
This was indeed a very close encounter for the cheetah and extremely exciting to watch for the blog fans.
These cheetah are such beautiful animals. By the way: are they still around in Londolozi’s area or have they moved on?
Cheetahs are magnificent animals. I am so glad that she managed to get away without being caught. I believe that they have split up and the two sons are still together, somewhere north of Mala Mala and the mother has been seen in our southern reaches.
Really phenomenal sighting! Glad that she was able to get away so perfectly and nice to have the full back story behind the video!
Thank you, Lisa. It was truly an incredible sighting.
I’ll never forget the video of a cheetah getting caught and dragged under by a croc at another location as mom and sibling watched and could do nothing. I understand a crocs gotta eat too but it was gut wrenching 🙁 Glad this mamma got away!
Hi Anita, I know that was so tragic. Thankfully this cheetah got away.
Cheetah is my absolute favorite animal! Tremendous athleticism with speed combined with a fair amount of strength.
We were fortunate to have had a fantastic male cheetah sighting during our lengthy visit last week.
Keep up the good work Sean-I totally enjoy the storylines.
Thank you, Vin. It was amazing to see you again. I hope you got home safely and look forward to seeing you again soon. Cheetah are remarkable athletes and thankfully so.
She was extremely lucky to escape those locking jaws and big teeth. It looked as if she was running on the water and the high jump she gave, it is out of this world, she deserves a medal. So glad she could escape safely. Stunning video Sean. You have mastered this blog now and you are doing exceptionally well.
Valmai, it really did look as though she ran on the top of the water to get away from the crocodile.
Thank you very much. I am so glad it is all coming together.
What incredible luck to have witnessed AND captured the moment for us to enjoy Sean ! The side of luck was certainly with the mother too 🙏❤️. Have watched the footage over and over in total awe of her agility and speed. Simply amazing thanks ‼️
It was truly an amazing sighting to have witnessed and being lucky to capture it all to share with everyone else. She definitely shows such incredible athleticism.
Sean that was a VERY interesting and exciting blog to read with the video showing us exactly what happened. Truly amazing to see and certainly not an “every day” occurrence” ! We see a little of the life of the animals in the Bush. Just imagine all the scenes we DON’T see? Life in the Bush just keeps on going on. Wendy M Message from husband, Neil. : Would normally enter Cheetahs for the Sprints but can now add High Jump to their repertoire! Neil
It was such a phenomenal sighting and to share it all with you makes me so happy. I am sure that there must be so much more that goes on without us being around, and if only we could be there to witness and capture it all. But that is the best thing about it all, to be lucky enough to be in ht right place at the right time to see it all.
To Neil: Yes they should from now on be known as high jumpers as well.
That was a leap worthy of a. Olympic high jumper. Thanks for sharing! Victoria
Wow! That was close! I’m shocked she chose that spot. She could have ended up like the sub adult cheetah that got caught at the waters edge in the now famous YouTube video which showed the croc in a small pond in about 1’ of water catching a young cheetah that was not so lucky. Crocs are so dangerous when they are literally invisible in very shallow water.
Hi Mike, yes it was such a close call. Crocodiles are such stealthy hunters.
What amazing footage Sean!! The cheetah’s agility was truly something to behold. And you were certainly in the right place at the right time. Thank you for sharing this wonderful sight.