July 10, 2025
After the female leaves her cubs, daughters usually remain within the maternal territory, while sons wander away from their family – this behavior helps to avoid inbreeding. Sisters, on the other hand, stay together as long as it benefits each of them. Over the past week, Nasieku has also become independent, and today was spotted alone. This morning, she got a fawn of impala, and later in the day, a Thomson gazelle’s fawn. Interestingly, the young female managed to hunt and eat both times in the presence of baboons in this area. Moreover, three baboons scared her away from the second kill, which did not prevent the female from finishing the meal as soon as the baboons left. Yesterday, her mother Nashipae hunted a baby impala in the same field. It is worth noting that she has recovered from her lameness and does not limp after a chase. Today, like 10 days ago, Nashipae spent the entire day 150 meters from her daughter, but they only saw each other in the evening. And again, Nashipae showed a desire to leave her daughter as soon as Nasieku stood up looking at Nashipae. Apparently, the cheetahs recognize each other from a distance and react to each other’s behavior accordingly. After watching Nashipae attentively for a few minutes, Nasieku turned around and walked in the opposite direction, toward the impala herd. Her evening chase, which Nashipae watched, was unsuccessful. We left both females sleeping in the grass 100 meters apart with fairly full bellies.
© MMCP. All observations, images and videos in this post are our own unless stated otherwise. Please credit appropriately if sharing
