03/24/2022
Female cheetahs begin traveling with their cubs when they are 2.5-3 months old. By taking cubs around vast areas, females provide them with opportunity to learn different types of habitats, to experience encounters with prey, food competitors, predators, livestock and humans, including herders and tourists. Thereby, after reaching independence, adolescents will be able to settle in the familiar areas. The females, which their mothers brought to the Reserve, becoming mothers themselves, in turn, also bring their cubs to the Reserve. Maasai Mara National Reserve is known for intensive tourism. Through detailed observation of individuals born and raised in the Mara and coming from unprotected areas or from the Serengeti, we found that in order to be successful in the Mara, cheetahs must be tolerant to touring vehicles. Selenkei – Imani’s daughter, Amani’s granddaughter, Saba’s great granddaughter and Shakira’s great great granddaughter, gave birth in late November in Naboisho Conservancy, where she was spotted with 5 healthy babies. The family’s journey began with a visit to the OMС, and now Selenkei has brought her 3.5 months old cubs to the Reserve. Unfortunately, by then she had lost three cubs to predators. Apart from nutrition, the female must ensure the safety of the cubs. One of the behavioral adaptations of cheetahs is to hide the prey in the bush after the hunt so that the vultures and other food competitors could not detect the prey and cubs. If not disturbed, family can feed on the carcass for up to 8 hours and then leave the spot. Conversely, when settling down for the night, the female with cubs chooses an open place with a good view. By hunting in the presence of tourist vehicles, the female demonstrates the optimal strategies that will be useful to the cubs in adult life in the Mara. Today, Selenkei successfully hunted a male Thomson’s gazelle and the family ate for 5 hours, after which the female took the cubs to a meadow in one kilometer from the carcass.