Watch the Sighting:
While enjoying a full-day self-drive in Kruger National Park with his family, Danie Bester discovered an incredible sighting. The family was heading back to the park gate, about two kilometres from Crocodile Bridge when suddenly they spotted a cheetah running in the distance — but this was only the beginning…
Supermom Strikes
One after the other, more and more cheetahs ran by the vehicle, totalling four! Danie quickly oriented his car to get the best possible view of the family, but he was so excited that he nearly missed the peak of the action.
Just then, his sister yelled “Here in front of us!”. The mother of the four sub-adult cubs was making an impala kill directly in front of the vehicle!
The family was so ecstatic that no one knew where to look between the four cheetahs and the mother with the impala. Once the kill was secured, the mom called out to her cubs to come enjoy the fresh meal, but the happy moment soon became tense…
Danger Looms on the Horizon
The four cubs began to feast while the mother cheetah stayed watchful about two meters ahead of the kill. After a few peaceful moments, Danie immediately noticed something was off.
The four cubs kept nervously looking up from their meal and the mother seemed tense. Danie’s family immediately started looking around for the potential threat and finally spotted it in the distance — one of the Vurhami lionesses was wandering towards the cheetah family, having smelt the fresh meat.
The lioness grew closer, walking confidently towards the cheetah family while the mother and cubs watched anxiously, keeping a close eye on her.
A Heart-Pounding Standoff
The lioness picked up the pace with a clear mission in mind. As she was now only several meters away from the kill, the cubs decided to take off, not wanting to risk the threat, while the mother remained hidden in the grass, crouched in a defensive position.
Finally, the lioness made it to the abandoned kill, picking it up and running away. The mother knew it was game over and ran off to join her cubs, where they all watched in frustration as the lioness enjoyed their well-deserved meal.
Danie reflected that he is very fortunate to visit the Kruger often, but each sighting is unique and brings up different emotions. “ You will never have the same feelings and the same excitement for a sighting, and one cannot really describe the feelings during a sighting like this, just try and take it all in”.
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Family over Food
This sighting is a perfect example of how survival in the wild is about more than just the next meal. Animals have a strong drive to protect the next generation, often having to sacrifice sustenance for safety.
Unlike lions, cheetahs do not have a territory they defend. They have a range that they roam and mark with urine, but as they are the most timid of all the big cats, they will not fight off other animals unless totally necessary.
They do not form prides like lions do, but small groups of four to six members can be common, especially if they are all family.