CHEETAH – PACE AND GRACE
Namibia is blessed to have the largest population of free roaming cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, in
the world. It is still a precarious situation as this predator is in direct conflict with humans, even in a country
as sparsely populated as Namibia.
Contact us to arrange your Namibia safari and have the chance to see these animals in the wild.
The cheetah is the fastest terrestrial animal in the world. When in full flight it can reach speeds of up to 95
kilometres per hour. The cheetah is built like a greyhound. It is very lean and light compared to other predatory
animals. Added to this are loose joints and a flexible spine that help even further in achieving speed, necessary
to bring down its prey.
The cheetah depends only on speed to make a kill, thus favouring the savannah and open plains of Africa, and
Namibia in particular. Using trees and anthills for lookout points the cheetah can
survey large areas for potential prey. Cheetahs have excellent binocular vision which aids when looking and hunting
for prey. Prey is mainly smaller antelope like Springbuck, Warthog and Impala. A cheetah will run down its prey and once down will go swiftly for the
throat. The jaws either crush the windpipe or sever the spinal cord. Once the prey is down, the cheetah will
immediately start to eat or try and hide its food. The cheetah is not built for fighting so it needs to protect its
food in other ways, like hiding it, if the cheetah becomes injured while trying to safeguard food, then it is very
likely that it will not survive, due to the fact that it would not be able to catch any more prey. Predators that
are in direct competition with cheetah are lions and Spotted
Hyena. Leopards have been spotted taking the food of cheetahs, but this is
extremely rare.
The cheetah is not a particularly sociable animal. A high proportion of cheetah live their adult life alone. If
two or more cheetah are sighted it is usually a female with her cubs, or juvenile adults that just recently left
their mothers. A mother will teach her cubs all about life and how to hunt in the 20 or so months that the cub
spends with her. After about 20 months the cubs are big enough to fend for themselves and are "kicked out" so to
say, by their mother. A very interesting fact about the cubs is their appearance when very young. The fur on the
back of a young cub is nearly black with some white stripes. The Honey badger, one
of Africa’s most ferocious animals has the same colouring. This might just indicate that this coloration can be
some form of protection, that when a predator sees a young cub, it can be misled into believing it is a honey
badger, thus giving it a wide berth.
A cheetah cannot roar, but it makes a high pitched whistling sound that can be heard from quite a distance. The
cubs respond immediately when they hear their mother calling, by doing the same.
In Namibia there are several non-profit organisations that work closely with farmers and nature conservators to
protect and conserve the cheetah population. The Africat Foundation based on Okonjima, and the Cheetah Conservation
Fund are the two main organisations that work very closely with cheetah. As a visitor to either of these places you
will be able to see cheetah up close and also learn much more about this fast and sleek animal.
|