When a cheetah set its sights on a zebra foal, a group of tourists got excited as the chase progressed. Unfortunately for them, the foal’s mother had other plans.
Nkululeko Mzolo submitted this exciting footage to Latest Sightings. He filmed it during a guided game drive in South Africa’s Pilanesberg National Park.
Please be sure to watch the accompanying video to share in the excitement.
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Zebra on the move
As we join Nkululeko at the sighting, it is initially difficult to see what he is watching. However, there is palpable excitement among his companions.
Although filmed at some distance with a cell phone, we then see a flash of movement across the grasslands. The silhouette is easily identified as a Burchell’s zebra.
A foal follows
Subsequently, a second, smaller shape appears. It is a zebra foal, doing its best to keep up with its mother.
Although unseen at this stage, the zebras are being chased by a female cheetah and her sub-adult cub. With adult zebra being too big for a lone cheetah to tackle, the foal is the obvious target.
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Cheetah closing in
As the cheetah closed in on the foal, it looked for a moment as if the foal’s time had come. However, its mother had other plans.
Realising that they would never outpace the cheetah, she turned suddenly. In the process, her calf overtook her.
With the calf now in the lead, the mother zebra had put her body between it and the pursuing predator. Now, the cheetah would have to get past her flying hooves to have a chance of catching the youngster.
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Spurred on
Spurred on by the thundering hooves of its mother, the calf easily maintained the pace. However, the cheetah’s prospects were fading with each stride.
While cheetahs are blindingly fast, they have sacrificed endurance for outright speed. The longer the chase went on, the slimmer its chances of success were becoming.
And, as they ran towards the golden sunset, another fact became apparent. Even if it were to catch the foal, you can be sure its mother would do her best to drive it off.
Better luck next time
With its prospects fading, the cheetah made a final effort to catch up to the fleeing pair. However, by now her lungs were burning as she struggled to fuel her tiring muscles with oxygen.
Before long, the unfortunate cat had to give up, much to the tourists’ disappointment.
However, they’d actually witnessed the reality of most attempted hunts. While cheetahs have one of the highest success rates as predators, they still fail in 50 to 60% of their attempts.
As Nkululeko’s video ends, we see the cheetah finally give up as the zebras rejoin their herd in the background. With a cub to feed, we hope she has better luck next time.
