03/25/2022
Females with adolescent cubs come into estrus and can mate with one or more males. Since the territories and home ranges of males and females overlap, they have opportunity to meet numerous partners. Some single males are more successful than others and manage to mate with different partners. For example, Olchorre mated with Neema and Sila this year. In 2022, 7-year-old Neema raised her first litter to independence. Being a responsible mother, she spent two days with the male, mating with him, while not forgetting to feed the cubs. At the end of January 2022, during the 2-day courtship with Olchorre, Neema successfully hunted. This turned out to be beneficial for the male as well. During the period of active courtship, partners do not hunt: females do not hunt because males hold them, and males do not leave the female, apparently so as not to lose the opportunity to mate with her. When Neema caught the prey, at first Olchorre was only concerned with mating with her, but eventually succumbed to hunger, and the family shared a meal with him. Usually, females leave their offspring a month before parturition, but Neema left them earlier. While Neema is in her second trimester of pregnancy, she hunts medium sized prey like gazelles or Impalas like today. One of the challenges of hunting in the evening is the encounter with predators that can take the prey. Tonight, 4 jackals approached the female first, and one of them distracted the attention of the female, constantly attacking her from behind, and biting the tip of the tail. Neema turned out to be patient and experienced – she only slightly scares away the annoying jackal, not moving away from the carcass. This helped the female save food. However, the loud constant barking of the jackal attracted the attention of the hyenas, and they immediately ran to the carcass from afar. The female did not resist and calmly left the carcass, because she had eaten enough to not be thriving for two or three days, if there was no suitable opportunity.
