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Zebra are a big kill for cheetahs, but coalitions of males can take them down https://twitter.com/SerengetiCheeta/status/1359433249727086594
In September of 2014 I was out looking for cheetahs and found 2 unknown males, south of where we usually saw Apollo and Bacchus.
Long grass makes it hard to find/observe cheetahs. It is hard to get a good ID shot of their spots, sometimes it is hard to tell sex or belly size
Long grass makes it hard to find/observe cheetahs. It is hard to get a good ID shot of their spots, sometimes it is hard to tell sex or belly size
So I was very pleased when they climbed on a termite mound.
They were both skinny so I had hopes they would hunt and I would get data for my PhD research, especially when one of them walked off the mound with an intent posture.
I was a bit concerned when he headed towards a group of zebra, cuz zebra are large and can kick your head in. Also it was back in the long grass where it is hard to drive and get accurate hunting data.
Fast forward a bit and the two of them had taken down a zebra. It wasn't an adult but still plenty big for two cheetahs.
I had to leave before they had finished eating, but I went back to the area the next day and found them surrounded by zebra.
They got down from the termite mound and walked past the staring zebra, their bellies absolutely crammed full of zebra.
The zebra
The cheetahs did what full cheetahs do. Piss on a tree and then lie down and look uncomfortable.
I spent close to two days with these cheetahs and ended up not being able to use their hunt data because I only analyzed gazelle hunts in the end.
