Cheetah cubs in training

From a young age cheetah cubs learn to hunt by shadowing their mother. This means that often young cheetah cubs will chase other animals around the plains, just to gain experience, whether they would be considered prey or not. In one morning in Ndutu we witnessed a 7 month old pair of cheetah cubs chase zebra, wildebeest, warthogs, a jackal and several species of birds. Finally their mother caught them a Thompson's gazelle fawn to allow them to fine tune their tripping techniques. Even once they had succeeded in tripping the fawn the cheetahs looked confused as to what to do next. Mum came to the rescue, biting the fawns neck, so that they could enjoy lunch.

An over-exited cheetah cub chasing part of the migration.

The same cheetah cub bravely chasing a Jackal.

The cheetah cub looking a little less brave as the Jackal turned around and barked at him.

One of the cubs successfully tripping the fawn. 

The cheetah mum and gazelle mum watched on as the cheetah cubs chase the fawn.

A morning with Cheetah cubs

One very early morning in Ndutu we came across the same cheetah family featured in my first ever blog post, Cheetahs in the rain, which was about a Mum and her 2 young cheetah cubs who were caught in the rain storm. When we came across the Cheetahs they were just waking up to the sun peering through the trees. As they woke up the Cheetah cubs became a lot more active playing on the bank of the river and even chasing after hartebeest. As always the young cheetahs in Ndutu, Tanzania, full of surprises and amazing to watch!

A young cheetah cub yawning as the first rays of light woke him up!

The two cheetah cubs playing on the river bank

Mum watching over the cheetah cubs as they play fought

An over enthusiastic cheetah cub chasing hartebeest under the watchful eye of bat eared foxes

The cheetah Mum surveying the marsh, on the lookout for breakfast

Our close Cheetah encounter.

One morning in Ndutu at the crack of dawn we came across a Cheetah family with 3 young cubs. It looked as though Mum had just caught a young Thompson's Gazelle for breakfast. Despite the fresh meat in front of them one of the Cheetah cubs got distracted by a lone wildebeest calf. Soon all three cubs were darting through the safari trucks before chasing the young wildebeest across the plains. Unfortunately the cubs were not yet old enough to understand how to trip prey, so were hopelessly chasing the wildebeest in circles until Mum came to the rescue, sprinting across the plains and tripping the wildebeest in one swipe of the paw.

It wasn't until after their second breakfast that the Cheetah cubs noticed us and came to say 'hi!'

The 3 cheetah cubs tucking into their second breakfast

 

The cheetahs playing tug of war over the wildbeest calf

Cheetah cub portrait

Cheetah cub checking out her reflection on the side of our truck
(probably my favourite iPhone photo)

Cheetahs in the rain

Inspired by two fantastic weeks on safari in Tanzania, as well as other adventures, I've decided to start a photographic blog. I thought I would start with some of my favourite photographs of the trip, which are all of a family of cheetahs, Mum and two cubs, that were caught in a rain storm. Unfortunate for them but it led to a very unique set of photographs for us!

The cheetah cubs playing with a hare found in a burrow

The Mum and her two cubs attempting to dry themselves off in vain

A juvenile cheetah cub chasing a bat eared fox

Two cheetah cubs in the rain, in the marsh area of Ndutu National park