KENYA BIG CATS SAFARIS-THE CHEETAH

Cheetahs are known to be among the cats. Traveling to Kenya wildlife safaris will offer you an exciting experience to witness the big cat’s safaris which includes the lions, leopards and the cheetahs which all belong to the cat’s family. They are mostly found in Saharan Africa, wild cheetahs once were found in most of Africa, the plains of southern Asia, the Middle East and India.

Cheetah on the look out,Maasai Mara safaris

But they mostly spend their time in open savanna. They are carnivore’s animals and known to be majestic guys. They are smaller than the other two cats, but are the fastest animal on land with a speed of 70 miles per hour.

Cheetahs has a life span of 10 to 12 years, the cheetahs are basically solitary animals. At times a male will accompany a female for a short while after mating, but most often the female is alone or with her cubs. Two to four cubs are born in a secluded place. When the mother is hunting, she leaves them hidden, but by 6 weeks of age they are able to follow her. They are suckled for 2 to 3 months but begin to eat meat as early as 3to 4 weeks.
By 4 months the cheetah cub is a tawny yellow and almost completely spotted; the tail has bands of black and by adulthood a white tip. The grayish mantle disappears more slowly; the last traces are still visible when the cubs are adult-sized at 15 months.
The y  have long, slim, muscular legs, a small, rounded head set on a long neck, a flexible spine, a deep chest, sharp  claws, special pads on its feet for traction and a long tail meant  for balancing its body.

Kenya Maasai Mara big cats

Although fast, the cheetah cannot run at full speed for long distances as they preserve their energy for future use as they relied on fresh meat and thus tend to surrender their meat in case of intruders like lions.
Cheetahs have distinctive black "tear stripes" that connect from the inside corner of each eye to the mouth that may serve as anti-reflective device for daytime hunting.

Cheetah mothers spend a long time teaching their young how to hunt small preys like antelope. Antelopes are brought back to the cubs and released so they can chase and catch them. Unlike most other cats, the cheetah are diurnal and thus preferred an early morning or early evening’s their favorite time for hunting, but is also active on moonlit nights. Cheetahs do not roar like lions, but they purr, hiss, whine and growl as their means of communication

Cheetahs on the  look out at Maasai Mara National Reserve

Once a cheetah has made a kill, it eats quickly and keeps an eye out for scavengers lions, leopards, hyenas, vultures and jackals will occasionally take away their kills. Although cheetahs usually prey on the smaller antelopes such as Thomson's gazelles and impalas, they can catch wildebeests and zebras if they tamed together. They also hunt hares and other small mammals and birds though they are too small to satisfy their belly.
Although known as an animal of the open plains that relies on speed to catch its prey, research has shown that the cheetah depends on cover to stalk prey. The cheetah gets as close to the prey as possible, then in a burst of speed tries to outrun its quarry. Once the cheetah closes in, it knocks the prey to the ground with its paw and suffocates the animal with a bite to the neck as they relax to start feeding on the prey.

 The cheetahs are not seen as easily as some other cats. Never numerous, cheetahs have become extinct in many areas, principally due to shrinking habitat, loss of species to prey upon, poaching for its precious skin that most religion value for its ornamental purposes, disease and a high rate of cub mortality are what keep them decline in number.

 Sharon

Kenya big cats safaris

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