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Out in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in the Northern Cape, travel agent and photographer Mike Sutherland caught this remarkable sighting with his group.
As he describes it, they “had been following a well-known coalition of male cheetahs, who were scouting for a meal in the deep valleys of the Korannaberg mountains.” Together, the two cheetahs crested a rocky slope to get a better view of the area and search for potential prey.
Unfortunately for the cheetahs, this made them vulnerable. Other animals in the area could now spot them too and they soon found themselves with the full attention of two male baboons.
Baboons, which already have a reputation for violence, can be particularly aggressive when they’re defending their troop, which these two were. Mike and his group had already noted “a troop of baboons [which] foraged peacefully until two of the large males spotted the cheetahs in the distance and began alarm calling.”
Rallying Cry
These two male baboons separated the cheetah brothers with a sudden charge, leaving one cheetah alone without the other member of its coalition for support. With no other option, the cheetah called out for its brother.
Cheetahs might be fast, but that’s at the cost of strength and durability and baboons are more than capable of killing them if they can catch them.
Now in hostile territory, this cheetah must reunite with his brother and escape before the baboons can catch up with either of them. But the baboons were still out there, and they were listening too.
Giving Away Your Position
It was a calculated risk for the cheetah, and thankfully, it payed off. Kind of. His cries allowed his brother to find him and the pair were reunited, but his fellow cheetah wasn’t the only one to come running.
Unwilling to let them get away the baboons had followed the call as well. They found the cheetahs reunited, but still too close to their troop for comfort and they took immediate action to rectify that.
Baboons know cheetahs are fast, but that’s not going to dissuade them from the attack.
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Time To Race
The top speed recorded by any species of baboon is thirty miles-per-hour which is very impressive. The top speed of a cheetah can reach up to one hundred and thirty miles-per-hour.
It’s a bold move from the baboons and it seems like the cheetahs should have an easy win out on the open plains, but they had let the baboons get very close, and it wasn’t all as open as they might like.
In the mountain valley there was plenty of rough ground which prevented the cheetah from reaching its phenomenal top speed, but which did absolutely nothing to slow the baboons.
The monkeys now had the advantage over the cats, and they were starting to catch up to them.
Mike said his group was “excited and thrilled to witness it and happy that everyone got away unharmed”, as the baboons did break off the chase once the cheetahs were far enough away from their troop.
Natural Enemies
This won’t be the last time the two animals come into conflict though, as baboons and cheetahs do not get along. In fact, due to cheetahs preying on them, baboons have been known to go out of their way to attack cheetahs like this pair did here, in order to protect themselves.
Baboons will also chase cheetahs away from their kills using their larger numbers. Despite this, the biggest threat to cheetahs is humanity.
These beautiful cats are at risk of extinction in the wild as more of their habitat is eroded by human activity, affecting their ability to find prey. On top of this, they’re victims of illegal animal trades.
Without change, sightings of cheetahs will become increasingly rare.