Nairobi National Park is just south of the City of Nairobi. In certain spots you can see the city’s skyscrapers from the park itself. While on a Safari at Nairobi National park, I was lucky enough to witness nature in action. Cheetahs are the fastest living land animal. They also normally are solo hunters. Watching a cheetah make a kill is rare enough by itself, I actually got to see a coordinated hunt by a mother and her cubs.
1: After a blisteringly fast pursuit, this impala was caught dead to rights. Cheetahs make the final kill by biting down on the throat of the target to suffocate it.2: One of the spindly legged cubs, straddles the prey.3: One cheetah drags the kill to a more secure location, while the other starts to eat.4: They take a breather. Notice the blood-stained snout.5: Don’t look now, a ‘committee’ of vultures is on the case. They slowly creep closer to the site.6: They find trouble when they get too close. Luckily vultures are cowardly, and are easily driven away.7: The cheetahs finally get their fill, and the vultures move in to finish off the feast. You can see one of the cheetahs, exiting stage right.8: Oh what do we have here? Jackals! They must have caught the scent of the kill! Jackals are adorable by the way, and have a high pitched squeaky bark.9: The jackals easily move in and the cowardly vultures give them some space10: Once the jackals get their fill, the vultures move back in to finish off any last morsels. After this point there is hardly anything left.
The whole process took about 3 hours. It was amazing to see this natural drama unfold.
