The 2022 African Journals, Chapter 32, Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!, Part 2

Chapter 32:

Zoom!  Zoom!  Zoom!

Part 2

On whom does the cheetah prey? The old, the sick, the wounded, the weak, the very young, but never the strong. Lesson: If you would not be prey, you had better be strong. - G. Gordon Liddy

Well, there's certainly no ZOOM!  ZOOM!  ZOOM! going on with these sleeping lions.   "Flat cats" we call them.

Bunch of lazy cats.    Well, lions do spend most of the day sleeping and do their hunting at night.

Ah, four cheetahs.   The fastest Zoomers of all.   Three are sub-adults.   Cheetah cubs stay with their mother until about the age of two.   Males leave to live independently and sometimes the females leave in a couple months after that.   Or, if the mother isn't breeding, they might form a coalition with her until a suitor comes along.

These are known as Kweli's cubs.

Francis, our driver/guide, finds them in a boulder field.   The large rocks serve almost as a camouflage for the cats.   They also make photographing them to stand out from the boulders difficult.

Watching the cats are these wildebeest on the ridge of the hill.

We are right up level with the cheetahs on a sidehill.    Marg and Shelly are downhill, looking up at the cats.   I watch as a giraffe approaches their vehicle and wonder if they'd notice.

It walked to the front of the vehicle.   Still no attention from the girls.

It struck a nice pose, to no avail.   If defense of Marg and Shelly, the best way to photograph a giraffe is when you can see sky under their bodies as emphasizes how tall they are.

The girls are still focused on the cats, so the giraffe leaves.

Note the two giraffes in the background.

Then along comes a wildebeest.   It doesn't get a look.

It, too, strikes a nice pose.   They usually don't do that when they are so close to a vehice.

Well, no dice.    So he leaves with all his buddies.

I think they noticed!

Meanwhile, the cats are approaching us.

One cheetah lies down and the second one reaches it.   I think this is a mind game they are playing with the giraffe and wildebeest.

Nervous wildebeest watch from the ridge.

Three of the cats walk past us.

I'll tell you, you don't get a photo opportunity like this very often.   If ever!

A cheetah sits on an old termite mound for a better view while a giraffe keeps an eye on the cat.

Well, there are no zooming cheetahs here.

 Another location; another cheetah. Let's see if sleepy-head gives us some action.  

So sorry.   Did we wake you from your nap?

Some Thompson's gazelle watch from the top of a rise.    One has wandered away from the herd and is passing in front of the cheetah.

The cheetah spots the Tommie.

And here she goes!    ZOOM!  ZOOM! ZOOM!

From zero to 60 mph in three seconds.   The fastest land animal on earth.

We have to reposition our vehicle as it is blocked by the other two with our group, so I miss the takedown.

Next thing I know, a topi begins to chase the cheetah, causing the cats to leave her prey.

What a sight!    I've never seen a lone topi go after a cheetah.

He doesn't give up.   He keeps after her.

These photos are highly cropped.   Imagine a 5X7 index card.   Then crop out a small part about half the size of a postage stamp.   That's how cropped!

Then, he comes back to stand guard to make sure the cheetah doesn't come back.

Something will find the dead Tommie.   Hyenas, vultures, jackals, miscellaneous scavenging birds.   It won't go to waste.

The cheetah might even sneak back to get it, but not if this topi can help it.

On the way back to camp, we swing by the tree where we saw the leopard and her son.

I have seen a number of leopards in my travels in Africa and to have a calm leopard  not far from you is quite the experience.   It does not happen very often and it can stir your heart like no other animal.

And that is all the Zoom!   Zoom!    Zoom! for now.

Ruppell's vulture.

The 2021 Africa Journals, Ch. 25: In Which We Meet SuperMum

 

Chapter 25:

In Which We Meet SuperMum

Being a mom is a full-time job and being a cheetah mom

is one of the toughest jobs.—YS Wildlife Photography

 

On a cloudy morning in late October, a cheetah names Raisi accomplished something that our experienced guides had never before seen.

They had spotted her the evening before, along with her five cubs, searching for game near the border of Kenya and Tanzania.   She had been in Tanzania, said the guides, and had just come back to the Maasai Mara.   The cubs obviously weren't habituated to the safari vehicles but the more time we spent with them, the more they relaxed into curiosity.

 

Cheetah cubs are born with a downy underlying fur called a mantle on the back of their necks and shoulders.   It disguises them in tall grass, and also gives them the appearance of a honey badger, which frightens away some predators.   Nonetheless, cheetahs are endangered.

Their natural habitat is diminishing and lions and hyenas will kill the cubs, and steal food from the adults.

The cheetah and her five were walking toward a valley on the other side of which were numerous grazing animals.   Suddenly, the cheetah saw a potential meal for her cubs, and they instantly disappeared into the brush to hide.

 

There are wildebeest, impala, and zebra in the valley.   Only the impala are small enough for the cheetah to take.

 

She slowly stalked the animal from the great distance but  eventually decided there was no chance.   She returned, called for the cubs, and they enjoyed some Mum time in the setting sunlight.

Like all cats, including lions and leopards, cheetahs are very affectionate.

These photos indicate an overnight interlude om the SuperMum story.

Up dark and early at 5:15for the morning game drive

Our guides quickly find the cheetah Raisi with her five cubs.    She is still looking for prey animals.

Raisi took the cubs to an overlook and before we even suspected what was happening, she went down the hill and out of site.   The cubs stayed on top.

By the time the guides found a way down the hill, Raisi had finished  off an impala.   Then, she called for the cubs.

While Raisi rested and then ate a bit of the impala, the cubs gorged themselves.   

Suddenly, Raisi noticed more impala on the hill and off she went on a stalk.  

I saw only a dust-up at the top of the hill.   I heard a commotion from the other two of our vehicles and later learned the guides were astonished at what they had just witnesses.   They clapped, they laughed, they high-fived each other.

Never before had any of these experienced guides seen a cheetah take down two animals in little more than a hour and a half.   Cheetahs expend a great deal of energy when they chase prey and often need a day to recover.

But soon SuperMum was bringing the animal down the hill to her cubs.

Proof of Raisi's astonishing feat.

A well-fed cub  with a big tummy.

Time to relax and then move away from the remains before the hyenas and other predators get there.

And there you have the story of Raisi, the SuperMum.

Vultures began gathering shortly after the first kill, waiting their turn to clean up the remains.

I'm going to end this post with the rest of quote from the beginning of this story.   The photographer is talking about a different cheetah than the one above, but it applies to all female cheetahs.

Being a mom is a full-time job and being a cheetah mom is one of the toughest jobs.

Take this cheetah, Imani, for example.

Over a period of 48 hours, we saw her leading her 4 tiny cubs for miles, measuring every step she took as they were surrounded by lions and hyenas.

She had to stop frequently to nurse the cubs.

She had to feed herself and her cubs.

She had to protect them (We saw her chasing a big lioness after she got too close to the cubs).

And she has to play with them...

There's no "Dad" in their life, and she has to do it all by herself.

That’s why we need to help them to make their life a bit easier by not disturbing them and leaving their land untouched.

Here she is scanning the horizon for a potential meal while one of the cubs is jumping on her and trying to give her a BIG HUG