A cheetah chase... one of those incredible safari moments one always hopes for. This morning we were sitting with a young male and female cheetah in some clearings in the south, watching them soaking up some early morning sunrays in that classic upright cheetah pose. Out of the corner of my eye, some movement caught my attention, and three warthogs came trotting out of the thicket into the clearings, straight into the field of vision of the cheetahs. The warthog failed to see them, they kept coming and coming, and I wondered at what point they'd pick them up, turn heal and run. Well they didn't turn, and to my astonishment came within 50m of the cheetahs. It was too good an opportunity to miss, the cheetahs were suddenly up and tearing after them, straight across the clearings, those little warthogs running for their lives! What happened next went against everything I've ever been taught! All of a sudden, the warthogs stopped, turned and faced the cheetahs, and suddenly the chasers became the chased. I don't think the cheetahs knew what to do they were so shocked, and they dashed up a termite mound to take cover. It was a hilarious turn of events - my respect for warthogs increased 10-fold.
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| The young female cheetah enjoying the morning sunshine. |
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| Female in the foreground, male lying down behind. |
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| The chase is on! Run piggies, run! |
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| Getting closer..... |
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| Uh oh! Bit of a turn around! Cheetah chased up a termite mound by the warhogs! |
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| Taking refuge at the top of the termite mound after an embarrassing defeat! |
