05/02/2023
Heavy rains have flooded some areas of the Mara, making it difficult for the cheetahs to find suitable places to rest and hunt. Walking 5-6 kilometers in search of prey, Tano Bora males encounter various predators, most often hyenas, at any time of the day. Recently, attempts by old males to catch antelopes have failed for a number of reasons, including uncoordinated hunting for two different targets while losing visual contact with each other, long distance to ungulates, or early start of the chase. But even when the males manage to catch the prey, it is often discovered sooner or later by stronger predators, such as hyenas. One of the adaptations of hyenas is to follow cheetahs in anticipation of a hunt in order to take away the prey, therefore cheetahs do not hunt when they spot a hyena and try to get out of its sight. Yesterday, during heavy rain, the Tano Bora males successfully hunted an adult Thomson’s gazelle, but did not notice the hyena because of the mist. Hyena seized the prey and immediately began to eat it, and cheetahs sat a few meters away watching hyena feasting. They were making attempts to approach the food one at a time, inevitably provoking hyena attacks. When hyena carried a half-eaten carcass aside, the cheetahs hurried to the spot where only the intestines and a few pieces of meat remained. Later that day, 4 hyenas relentlessly followed the cheetah males, systematically approaching and checking for food, and in the evening settled down to sleep in the grass 30 meters from the tired cheetahs. Under cloud of night, the Tano Bora males covered more than 10 kilometers and tried to hunt again today, making the last attempt to catch a Topi at 17:35.
