by Lisa Grainger, Telegraph May 2008
Cheetah:
What every big-cat lover dreams of witnessing on safari is a cheetah
kill. Not just because of the extraordinary speed of this predator
(revving up to a Grand Prix-worthy 68mph in three seconds), but
also its agility on the chase.
With its oversized back legs (to power it), narrow, streamlined
torso and long tail (which acts as a rudder as it runs), this
cat is as nimble as the small buck on which it preys, leaping
and swerving as it hunts, until it manages to trip its dinner,
then suffocate it - often all within just a few minutes.
The best time to try to spot cheetah on the prowl is in the evening
or early morning, when the light is soft and the air cool. Most
sightings, though, are post-kill, when the exhausted cat is lying
in grass, beside its still-warm dinner, recovering its energy
and its breath. Because of the size of their range (in Namibia
often up to 580 square miles), and the fact they they are as at
home in woodlands as in grasslands, sightings are a matter of
pure luck.
The cats like neither lions nor hyena, which kill their cubs,
but are often spotted in the same vicinity, thanks to their common
taste for antelope. Where to see them? In South Africa's Phinda,
Samara and Kgalagadi parks (cheetah don't mind extreme heat and
dust), in Kenya's game-rich Maasai Mara, the Kwando river in northern
Botswana and in Tanzania's Serengeti (where the flat plains offer
ideal hunting conditions) and Ruaha.
Recommended camps
Phinda, Samara (South Africa); Kicheche Mara, Offbeat Mara
and Governors and Mwagusi (Kenya); Ndutu and Tanzania Under Canvas
(Tanzania), Lebala (Botswana).
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