Two days ago our resident Cheetah males managed to bring down a young Kudu cow in a well wooded area just outside Southern Camp lodge entrance. Rather than a full out chase for which they are known for, we imagined that they probably altered their hunting style a bit and opted for an “ambush” attack. The combined weight of these to males was probably to much for the Kudu cow, and they should have managed to bring her down quite easily despite the prey animal out-weighing the predators by far.
Male Cheetah are known to form coalitions, who together will fight off rival males and this also allows them to “tackle” much larger prey than they would normally be able to handle by themselves.
One of the males injured his paw during the struggle, but it luckily it doesn’t appear to be too serious and he should make a full recovery.
We will however monitor him over the next few days , as even slight injuries can sometimes be fatal for Cheetah, more so if it renders them incapable to fend off other predators or even unable to hunt. Luckily we see them quite often around this area and they are already known as the Southern Camp boys.
We will keep you updated on their progress…
Westley Lombard – Southern Camp Senior Ranger
(Photos, courtesy of Mrs Julia Chan… Thank you Julia!)
