March 2, 2025
Cheetahs are opportunistic hunters that hunt at any time, including the hottest hours of the day and the darkest hours of the night. To hunt successfully, a cheetah needs open space in front of it to maneuver. And very often, if there are many ungulates, a cheetah can wait for hours for the optimal position of the prey, checking the distance and direction of the ungulates so that the effort of the chase pays off.
For this to happen, two conditions must be met: 1) the distance between the cheetahs and the prey must be shorter than the distance between tour vehicles and the prey, and 2) the vehicles must remain stationary when the cheetah starts moving towards the prey, while the number of vehicles is not a significant factor. We have seen cheetahs successfully hunt in the presence of over 65 vehicles on numerous occasions. With age, on the one hand, experience increases, and on the other hand, strength decreases. Neema is now 9 years and 9 months old, which makes her one of the oldest cheetahs in the Mara. Today it was gratifying to see how the vehicles gave Neema complete freedom to hunt by parking on one side of the field and remaining motionless, waiting for the hunt. The wait was rewarded – at 12:35 Neema caught an adult male Thomson’s gazelle. In the absence of kleptoparasites, a cheetah feeds on one carcass for 5-6 hours, and Neema was able to finish the entire kill by late evening.
