The delightful variety of big cats that might be spotted on safari come in all shapes, sizes and hunting disciplines. Lions benefit from the support that comes with their pride, and leopards trust to stealth to help them survive their solitary lifestyles.
Cheetahs fall somewhere in-between, living in social units smaller than a pride, but larger than an individual. These coalitions rely on their speed to bring down their prey, typically composed of deer or antelope.
While at the Phinda Game Reserve, Grant Rattray caught two cheetahs on camera as they turned their hunting skills to larger, more difficult prey. Stunningly, these cheetah had caught sight of a young giraffe, and they were in the mood for a meal.
Some Ambitious Prey
For these two cheetahs to designate this giraffe as their prey meant they must have felt very secure with their chances. The giraffe’s youth would have tipped the scales in the favor of the big cats, but this was still a risky hunt.
Even lions will be wary of adult giraffes, which can lash out with enough strength to kill them, and, because they rely on their speed, cheetahs are less robust than these other big cats.
If this giraffe was still young enough to rely on its mother for protection, then the cheetahs would have to move quickly before she came back and forced them to leave empty handed.
Built For Speed
Fortunately for these cheetahs, they excelled at moving quickly. No doubt their ability to accelerate served them well in the hunt as giraffes can also get a shift on when they need to, but by the time Grant’s footage began the cheetahs had already caught their prey.
To ensure they got a meal as a reward for all of their efforts, the cheetahs would have to bring the giraffe down quickly as well. Just by merit of their enormous size, giraffes possess a lot of strength and while cheetahs might be able to run at high speeds, they can only fight for so long.
The longer the giraffe resisted the harder it would be for these two cheetahs to bring it down, and the greater risk that an older and more experienced giraffe could come to its aid.
Family Teamwork
Cheetah coalitions are typically composed of siblings, most often two or three brothers, that strike out on their own to hunt and survive, which means that these two cheetahs would be related.
Growing up, and then surviving together, results in strong social bonds which make these big cats well suited to supporting each other in hunts, and using teamwork to trap and kill their prey.
It appeared from Grant’s footage that both cheetahs had agreed to target the giraffe’s legs to bring it down. A deadly strategy that proved effective as the weakened giraffe could no longer support its weight and fell behind the tree line.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Dinner’s Ready
With the unlucky prey animal on the ground, its throat was now in reach of the cheetahs hungry jaws and they would be able to dispatch it without much more trouble.
There was no adult giraffe in sight to give assistance to the stricken youngster, and the sounds of struggle had brought no other predators to investigate, which meant these two cheetahs could enjoy the fruits of their labors untroubled by intruders.
Seeing predators hunt always makes for incredible sightings, but watching large cats work together to bring down unusual prey is something extra special, and Grant was very lucky to have witnessed it.