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Hello - Welcome. The purpose of this site is to document my experiences photographing wildlife and nature throughout Australia and abroad.  I hope you find the content interesting and educational, and the images  cause you to reflect on how important it is preserve natural places and their inhabitants.

All wildife has been photographed in the wild and animals are NOT captive or living in enclosures.

For me photography of the natural world is more than just pretty settings and cuddly animal photos. It's a concern for the environment and the earth all living creatures must share.

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Entries in Acinonyx jubatus (2)

Sunday
Nov062011

The Hunt, Chase & Kill - Wild Cheetahs in Kenya, East Africa

The Hunt

The following morning, whilst travelling the usual rough route from the camp to the last known position of the cheetahs, our luck appeared to change.  The brothers were on the move and tailing a large herd of wildebeest.  Quickly driving to a suitable shooting position in relation to the sun, we prepared our cameras for what was hoped would be a kill. 

LEFT:  A cheetah moves out from the cover of the stream and makes his way toward the herd.

One of cheetahs climbed a termite mound, to see further ahead, before setting off at a fast trot moving toward our vehicle.  In an instant, the feline was transformed from a sleeping house cat to a highly mobile killing machine.  It was so fast, almost a blur, as the cat shortened its distance between itself and the herd of wildebeest.   The target was a largish individual, enough to sustain the three hunters.  But where were the other hunters – only one was chasing the target prey.  The other two hunters were lolling behind enjoying the morning sun while playing in the grass!

LEFT:  A male cheetah, bypasses a fleeing wildebeest as it locks onto an individual within the herd.

Confrontation

The wildebeest, perhaps sensing an untrained solo hunter, stopped running and turned while lowered its head to confront the cheetah.  A brief exchange took place whereby the wildebeest charged the cheetah attempting to injure the adolescent with its two flailing front legs and hoofs.  The cheetah made a fleeting attempt at grabbing the rear flank without success before retreating to a safer distance from the aggressive wildebeest. 

LEFT:  Adult wildebeest are no easy match for a cheetah.  The wildebeest rather than run, stops and confronts the cat.

The hunt had ended and the cheetah was left standing, panting and looking towards his brethren with a disdainful look on his face which clearly said “where were you?”  The hunt, run and attack was a failure due to poor cooperation between the trio.

Let’s Try Again…

A lager (a thin strip of thick vegetation that hides a watercourse) was directly in front of the moving wildebeest.  We decided that the prime shooting position would be with the sun behind us on the quarter at the other side of the lager.  To reach this position required us to drive across the rough lager and a small stream. 

LEFT: Paws outstretched, a cheetah brings down a wildebeest after a short but very fast run.

Meanwhile, the trio had reunited and were making a steady pace behind the herd.  We were certain a kill would happen this morning; the cheetahs were active and we knew they must be hungry!

The wildebeest slowly moved around our vehicle; for a moment I was concerned our presence would predetermine the direction of the herd.  However, this didn’t occur as the animals abruptly altered direction moving away and to the left of our vehicle.  The herd comprised a number of mothers with first born, inexperienced adolescents, and old salts.  It’s the young and inexperienced that are usually targeted by predators.

LEFT: The prey is now dead and the cheetahs share the choice pieces of the kill.  One cheetah drinks fresh blood from a severed artery whilst another chews on a flank.

The cheetahs, following each other, pushed through the dense vegetation of the lager and stopped short of the savannah.  The cats assessing the situation quickly, realized that the herd was moving towards them.  They broke from the cover provided by the lager and began to walk toward the herd maintaining what cover was available from the natural contours of the land.  The herd hadn’t noticed the three slick cats, until they bounded from a walk to a very fast run, which became a blur as they shortened the distance to the herd.  The wildebeest finally saw the danger and the lead animals broke into a run which translated to a wild frenzy of movement as each individual in the herd panicked.  The hunting had ended and the chase had begun.

The Hunting Had Ended & The Chase Had Begun

It was too little too late!  The three cats were amongst the herd and it was difficult to think that the hunt would not be a success.  At first, each cat appeared to target what he thought was a prime individual, but as they ran along the side the herd, a dedicated target was selected from the many.  The three cats, in marvellous co operation ran the ‘chosen one” away from the protection of the central section of the herd.  The singled out wildebeest ran fast, weaving and dancing in an attempt to remove the ‘target lock” achieved by the cheetahs.  The individual selected was not an inexperienced youngster, but a fully grown adult who was more than capable of outfighting a single cheetah, but what about three cheetahs acting as one unified force?

Feline Cooperation

The first cheetah pawed the rear leg of the wildebeest, but missed!; the resultant inertia forcing him to loose his footing and fall to the ground.  The second cat manoeuvred himself to the front of the wildebeest causing the stricken animal to alter direction and loose speed.  The third cheetah made his move and with two paws outstretched, fastened himself to the rump of the now highly panicked animal and wrestled him to the ground.  Attempting to get a better purchase on the animal, the cheetah released his grip and the wildebeest, realizing his opportunity, jumped from the cheetah’s grasp to make an escape.  However, by this time the first cat, recovered from his fall, leapt onto the rear of the animal, bringing him down before he could make good his escape.  The cheetah that had lost his initial purchase on the rump, quickly climbed onto the panting wildebeest holding him to the ground.  It was over.  The death of one would be the life of three.

The hunt, chase and kill had transpired very quickly. Now there was a stricken wildebeest lying on the ground with two cheetahs beginning to feed, whilst the third kept a careful watch for intruders. 

LEFT: Two hungry cheetahs begin to feast on the still live wildebeest whilst a third cheetah watches for other predators.  It's unusual behaviour for cheetahs to feed on still-living prey.

While one of the brothers tore the flesh from the favoured area of the animal; the rear haunches, his brethren began to open an area in the region of the neck, to drink the fresh blood.  Blood is very rich in iron and often is drunk by animals as a vitamin supplement to water.  The luckless victim continued to try and make an escape, but clearly this movement was instinctive.  I was told by the KWS ranger that cheetahs rarely eat live food, and to do so, probably can be explained by heightened hunger. 

In between feeding, each cheetah in unison would stop momentarily, raise himself high from the ground and scan the horizon for danger.  A lion or hyena group could easily steal the carcass and perhaps injure one of the trio.  Overhead, vultures attracted to the recent kill, began to circle the carcass.

Unusual Cheetah Behaviour

The normal practice for cheetahs is to “rush their meal” for fear of losing it to another scavenging animal – the behaviour is almost “hit and run”; but, thirty minutes had gone by and the three brothers were still eating!  This was not normal behaviour. 

The flanks had been consumed and now the trio were demolishing and feeding upon the remainder of the carcass.   A lone jackal, attracted by the smell of blood boldly made his way towards the carcass, however, the brothers had little intension of sharing their food with a non family member and quickly charged the jackal, putting this “lower predator” into its rightful place.  Eventually the jackal was successful in steeling a morsel (the stomach).

LEFT:  A male cheetah lifts its head from early dining to sneer at a Jackrel that wants her share of the free food which the jackrel did not earn....

The three brothers, whose bellies were now visibly distended, had within forty minutes consumed most of the accessible meat from the carcass.  Immediately after the last cheetah had left the remains, the waiting vultures descended and began to rip apart the remainder of the flesh.  The transition was swift; it reminded me of a hoard of flies attracted to a piece of left over meat at a summer BBQ, or perhaps a school of piranha attacking a hapless victim in Amazonian waters.  Literally within minutes, the bones were picked relatively clean with only the rib cage showing  above the grass.  Nothing went to waste.

Cheetah Cubs

I'll return to the cheetahs at some stage in the future, however, I won't be discussing the three brothers.  Instead, we'll have a glimpse into the life of three, very playful one-week old cheetah cubs and their mother.

Monday
Oct172011

The Three Brothers, Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) - Republic of Kenya

The small thermometer I had on my photo backpack said it was 45 degrees Celsius; I thought about repositioning the device, but then realized that it was already in the shade.

I was sitting in the rear of a Toyota Landcruiser crammed in amongst various pieces of photographic equipment, and a very large cooler which carried breakfast and lunch.  I’d been sitting here for 3 hours watching three young cheetahs, and the temperature didn’t seem to be decreasing.  The cheetahs had the right idea – sleep, and I’m sure I dozed off now and again, only to be woken by several dozen squadrons of annoying flies buzzing around my head.

LEFT: A male cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) watchful for prey or predators.

The Three Brothers

The three male cheetahs, nicknamed “The Three Brothers” by the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS), are a tad over a year old and belong to the same litter.

“Cheetahs are usually solitary or are seen in pairs.  A trio co-habitating is quite uncommon” stated one of the KWS rangers I had spoken with earlier that day. 

Our task this day, and for the following several days was relatively simple; follow the cheetahs to observe their behaviour and hopefully photograph the animals hunting and making a kill. 

Cheetahs are one of the most beautiful cats to be found in Africa, and in my opinion rate second to the leopard.  Evolution and natural selection has developed an animal that is exceptionally adapted to chasing and killing certain types of prey.  The cheetah is the fastest of the big cats and is superbly adapted for speed, able to retain speeds of 112 km/hr (69 mph).   This speed equates to roughly 32 meters per second (32 m/s) and can be maintained over an average prey chase of 2.7 kilometres (3.5 miles).

But, as with most predators when not hunting, they sleep to conserve energy - and this is exactly what the three brothers were doing, only occasionally stirring to check on the location of a number of Thompson gazelles that were browsing nearby.

Cheetahs Are Skittish Animals

Cheetahs, in comparison to other apex predators such as lions and leopards, are skittish animals forever watchful and alert.  They are the “scaredy cats” of the feline family.  A cheetah won’t take unnecessary risks, and often will retreat upon conflict with another animal – especially a lion which are known to kill cheetahs.  A mother with cubs is especially vulnerable and often cubs will be killed by hyenas and lions.  At these times the mother will move away from areas heavily populated with prey to minimise any interaction with other predators. 

The Three Brothers inhabited a lightly vegetated area adjacent to surrounding plains; this is the favoured habitat of cheetahs as it provides vegetation to hide behind, and open ground from which to exercise their one benefit over other predators – speed.   Unlike lions, which mainly hunt at night, cheetahs prefer to hunt during the daylight hours, thereby minimising the chance of injury such as falling into a hole while running at high speeds.

 Fussy Eaters

Searching for the cheetahs each day revealed that over the past week or so they had hunted and made several kills; the remains of their kill was evident as we searched the open ground and beneath shady bushes.  Cheetahs, like some house cats, are fussy eaters; they prefer smaller animals such as gazelles, and then only consume the choicest cuts – normally the rear flanks, leaving the remainder of the kill for hyenas, jackals or vultures. 

LEFT: On the brothers wakens briefly and yawns whilst his brethren sleeps adjacent.

Several times, we observed prey animals and positioned the four wheel drive in a suitable place to film any resultant hunt and kill; however, it became evident that as the brothers were three, a gazelle hind quarter was not going to be enough food to sustain them.  I’d read that cheetahs hunt three to four times a week; daily when bringing up cubs. 

We knew the brothers were hungry….We knew they had to hunt soon…We had an inkling that they wanted something more sustainable than a gazelle, but when would they make their move? 

In my next post, I’ll describe the hunting technique of the three brothers and we’ll learn whether they were successful or not.