During their first hunting lesson, a group of young cheetahs struggled to kill a gazelle, allowing the prey to escape into the hands of a baboon.
A large male baboon rushes in to steal the baby gazelle for itself.
Laura Dyer captured the surprising conclusion of the young cheetahs’ “lesson” in the Masai Mara reserve, Kenya, as reported by Mail on January 19. “The cheetah cubs are less than six months old. Their mother brought a newborn Thomson’s gazelle for them to learn how to hunt.”, she stated.
Instead of pouncing and taking down the gazelle, the cubs merely surrounded the small animal and failed to kill it. Several times the gazelle escaped, with the cubs chasing and capturing it again. They pinned the prey to the ground, fumbling to bite its neck but still without success.
“Of course, the cubs had no idea what to do since this was their first time practicing hunting. They didn’t know how to kill the gazelle. This went on for about 40 minutes under the watchful eye of their mother, until a large male baboon noticed the commotion and rushed in to steal the gazelle for itself,” Dyer recounted.
The baboon chased the three small cheetahs away and then ran after the gazelle to reclaim it. This time, the gazelle sustained a fatal wound to its neck. It was quickly taken away by the baboon. “Baboons sometimes catch and kill prey, but this is still quite unusual,” Dyer noted.
Baboons (Papio) are found in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. They are omnivorous animals, consuming fruits, roots, birds, rodents, and even the young of gazelles and sheep. Baboons live in troops that can range from a few dozen to several hundred members.
Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are the fastest land mammals, commonly found in Africa and Iran. They can accelerate from 0 km/h to 95 km/h in just three seconds. Their prey includes gazelles, rabbits, wild goats, and various other animals. A mother cheetah typically gives birth to 2 to 4 cubs at a time. The cubs will live with their mother and learn survival skills for about 16 months.
