The 2022 Africa Journals, Chapter 23: Day of the Cheetahs

 Chapter 23:

Day of the Cheetahs

The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal.   They can run as fast as a car on the interstate--up to 70 mph.   And they can reach that speed in just 3 seconds.            

NOTE:   If you want to see the photos in a larger format, click on one.   Thumbnails will open at the bottom of the screen that you can click on to enlarge.

Any day that begins with photographing animals on the horizon against the rising sun is vouchsafed to be a great day!   This morning, it is zebras against an artist's  palate of ambers--amber like a cheetah's eyes.   Little did we suspect then that today would be a day of cheetahs.

Virginia and I are once again riding with Dominick and his spotter and we are heading into the "downtown Mara" where we will have lots of company.

I take a number of photos with my big Nikon 200-500mm lens before I realize there is no memory card in the camera!  My practice is to leave the access door open if I remove the card or the battery, and last evening I removed both.  I managed to replace the recharged battery this morning, but apparently the memory card door had fallen almost closed and I didn't see it.

So, I missed the red-necked spur fowl, the zebras, Tommies, and the jackal.   Also a single lioness, a warthog with babies, and a cheetah.

Good for me that my back-up camera with its 18-400mm lens is locked and loaded so I am able to get some of the early morning images.  That's the camera I use for landscapes and when the subjects are too close for the big lens.    Also, good for me, is that I carry extra memory cards and batteries, so I make sure Long Lens is ready to use.

We find a lioness with her two large cubs, sound asleep and content in the warming sunlight.

It appears they are down for the day, so we venture onwards.

Then, in the wide-open savannah grasslands, we join a long line of safari vehicles parked on a track about 7:30 A.M.    And the waiting begins.

There are two cheetahs hunkered down in the tall grass, their eyes on a herd of wildebeest far down the slope.  Occasionally they stand and move slowly down the slope.

These two brothers, Winda  (Swahili for Good Hunter). and Olonyok (Maa for The one who puts efforts to achieve  better success.) are the last two of the world-famous coalition of five male cheetahs known as the Tano Bora.   The other three were killed and their wounds suggested it was lions that inflicted them.

The photo below of The Fast Five is from the Mara Meru Project, a long-term study of all the cheetahs in the Maasai Mara.    The Link to the site is below the photo.

NOT MY PHOTO, but aren't they gorgeous!!

http://marameru.org/tano-bora-the-legend-of-the-mara/

As I mentioned, it was about 7:30 when we joined the long line of vehicles to watch the cheetahs.   The guides were sure the cheetahs were on the hunt because the two sleek cats hadn't eaten in almost a week, to the best of the guides' knowledge.   Cheetahs hunt by day, so it's most likely to be a valid report.

Some trucks have peeled off and taken up positions farther downhill.

Rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service were there to prevent anyone from interfering with the cheetahs, and watching that nobody went off road unless they had a permit to do so.

A lilac-breasted roller, Kenya's national bird, watches from the nearby bushes, distracting me from the cheetahs who move as slowly as a glacier.

KWS rangers

Just after 9 o'clock, we pulled  out of the line and went to a nearby spot where we were safe from cheetahs.    The guides parked and broke out our breakfasts.

Downhill from us were two giraffes.

We hurried through breakfast and returned to watching the cheetahs.   By this time, they were far downhill and near a herd of wildebeest.   So were the safari vehicles, all maneuvering for a prime spot.

Just a few of them.

One cheetah can't take down a wildebeest by itself.   It's a struggle for two cheetahs to do it.    But these boys, experienced in taking down large animals with the help off the other three cheetahs in their coalition, apparently haven't accepted that their power is diminished by three-fifths, and they went for big game.

By the time we got into position, the boys struck.   Apparently they got their signals mixed up because one went one way and the other the other way.   Both were targeting different wildebeest.

The one closest to us got his animal and hung on.   The other gave up on his prey and eventually returned to help his brother, but it was touch and go for a while.   The cheetahs almost lost the beast a couple times.

Unfortunately, the first cheetah on the animal was unable to get hold of the beast's throat to smother it, and the wildebeest bleated in terror a number of times.  That bleating is a signal to other predators to come and share or steal the downed prey.   Hyenas, lions, vultures, Marabou stork--come and get it.

The cheetah has only a part of the beard in its mouth, unable to clamp down on the throat.

Here, he is very much in trouble and might lose it altogether.

Finally help arrives.

 

He adds his weight to assist the first cheetah, trying to take it to the ground.

Still they don't have a hold on its throat.

Finally, the beast is on the ground and one cheetah has hold of its throat.   The bleating stops.s

Time for a rest and to scan for encroachers.

The boys spot a hyena approaching.   One cheetah goes to confront it.

The hyena doesn't care about the cheetah.   It knows the cats are no match for him and his bone-crushing jaws.

The hyena skirts the cheetah and rushes toward  the kill.

The cheetah puts on its fiercest look and hisses at the hyena, but the hyena doesn't care.   It knows the cat won't attack.

The hyena steals the hard-won meal from the cheetahs.    However, as we watch, one cheetah moves closer and closer to the kill as the hyena eats.   Soon, it is working on the front shoulder.

This is extraordinary!   A hyena rarely shares.   Had there been more hyenas, the cheetahs would have been out of luck.

I have seen several unsuccessful hunts in my trips to Africa.   I have seen more after-the-hunt kills.   This is the first time I saw the hunt, chase, and kill.

And here come the vultures.   They will hang back and wait for the animals to eat their fill before moving in to clean up the scraps.

A cheetah, a hyena, and a vulture.

A line of waiting vultures.

UNBELIEVABLE.   A hyena sharing the kill with two cheetahs.

The hyena has eaten its fill of the best parts, and leaves with a leg.

Finally, the boys are able to enjoy a meal.

We leave about 11 o'clock and head back in the general direction of camp.

Twenty minutes later Dominick spots a lone female cheetah.    He thinks she is lactating and wants to know where her den is.  He turns the vehicle around and we  begin to follow her.

Soon, fate and a flat tire intervenes.   The trucks gather for safety, and are in a spot well away from lions, buffalo, and other dangers.

Looks like Johnson has the tire-changing honors, but he has lots of advice from the others.

Meanwhile, the cheetah approaches a herd of Thompson's gazelle.   They are just the right size for a lone cheetah to take down.

These Tommies aren't sticking around.

There is more separation between the cheetah and the Tommies than it looks.

Dominick gives us a choice.   He wants to remain in the field, hoping the cheetah will lead him to her den.   We can stay with him, or return to camp in another vehicle.   Virginia and I opt to remain.

So there we sit in the warm semi-occluded sunlight and I decide to take advantage of it. Shelly, in the next vehicle, decided to take advantage of it too by photographing me resting.

He contacts camp and after a while, a hot lunch arrives.    Stir-fried chicken, veggies, and a piece of pizza.

I saw this plant and don't know what it is.   My toe is in the photo for size comparison.

And a black-winged lapwing wandered by.   It's a migratory bird.

 

This is my last look at the cheetah.    She is that little spot between the two trees.

The last photos I take this day are around 3:30 to 4 o'clock.    Sometime just before 6 o'clock, we call it quits and head toward camp in another vehicle, while Dominick remains on watch.

We find an ostrich family, Mum, Dad, and 15 chicks.   I never am able to get all 15 in one frame.

Mum and some.

Mum, Dad, and most of them.

Dad and most of the brood.

The ostrich on the horizon.   There might be a Tommie gazelle in there, too.

After dinner, Dominic returns and reports that the cheetah never returned to her den as long as he could see her.