They were on an early morning stroll, casuallywalking across the road and into the bush. Theygave a gaping morning yawn and took a quick sitdown for observation and to gather their thoughts,then the brothers got on their feet again. These twocheetahs had enjoyed a restful evening now theywere on the prowl to find some breakfast. We drove around a bend as we tried to keep up withthe fast-moving felines and suddenly we foundthem, looking up a tree, as if they wanted to climbit. It's very unusual to see a cheetah in a tree, nevermind climbing it. These cats are not adapted likeleopards to climb trees effectively; instead they aremore suited for open plains where they use speedsof up to 114 km/h to catch their prey and avoidcompetitive predators. We could not yet see what they had set their sightson, so we slowly rolled forward to get a better view.Then, behind the trees in the distance, we spottedsome zebra grazing. This must be what the brothershad set their gaze upon. We watched silently as, over the next 40 minutes,they played an incredible game of patience, creepingforward until they had moved from 70 metres awayfrom the zebra, to a mere 20 metres, withoutdrawing any attention to themselves. Then werealised that the cheetah had a dilemma. Theirextracted claws were now making more sound asthey moved through the bush and the zebra haddetected it. They stood dead still, not moving a muscle. Thecheetah were also frozen in their steps. It was astandoff. The brothers gently stepped forward and,noticing the sound, the zebra spotted the two catsand immediately galloped off in various directions.The cheetahs had not been in a prime position tolaunch their attack and now they had to accept thefact that their breakfast had just escaped.

RANGER SEAN'S BUSHVELD DIARIESday 1

The Cheetah Chase

Quiz

We were amazed to have experienced the thrillof the stalk. Lost for words, we returned to thelodge for a sumptuous breakfast that hopefullywouldn’t escape. It was an absolutely satisfyingway to start the day.

1) What is the maximum speed a cheetah canreach to catch prey and evade predators? 2) Which animals are better adapted thancheetahs to climb trees? 3) How far forward did the cheetah brothersmanage to travel in 40 minutes? 4) How did the zebra first notice the cheetahsnear them? 5) Who broke the cheetah-zebra standofffirst?