Botswana, Animals

Cheetah

At Selinda, Esefa learned from the radio that two cheetahs had been found. When we arrived after a long drive, two other jeeps were watching them.

It sure is exciting to find cheetahs! With their numbers dwindling, they are quite rare these days. But after an hour or so, it becomes a bit boring to watch sleepy cheetahs lying under a bush. Eventually both of the other jeeps moved on.

Our patience was rewarded however. Sometime after noon, they both got up and slowly walked through the scattered trees and bushes. They came to a small rise and sat side by side scanning their surroundings. It was very quiet, with no other animals in sight.

Soon they continued their walk. In the jeep, we said very little while we followed. We lost them among the bushes, circled around and found them again.

It did not seem like the tense hunt of predators stalking prey. We were just watching two cheetahs strolling through woods.

All of a sudden, a small animal popped up out of nowhere and ran off into the bushes. It was a steenbok, a small antelope, and it was gone in a flash.

The cheetahs did not chase after it, but they were clearly more focused now. Soon the bigger male cheetah was stalking, even though the place was silent and empty.

Then the male cheetah took off running! In a flash he had reached something.

Above, the male has already run across the scene right to left. He has something pinned to ground, not much more than its ears showing. The female is racing in from the right, her tail curled above and behind her.

Amid this confused tussle with dust flying, we heard the cry. We could have mistaken that sound for a human baby, but it was another steenbok, the female mate of the one that had run away.

I had been shooting still photos during the hunt, but switched to video to capture that cry.