Speedy cat a-resting

One of the cheetahs at Kragga Kamma Game Park having a bit of a sleep while I stalk him through the grass with my camera 

Cheetah

Kragga Kamma Game Park is probably the best place around Port Elizabeth if you only have an hour or two and want to see wild animals.  The park has a separate enclosure where they keep their cheetah which is part of a breeding program.  Unfortunately for me this cheetah was sitting between me and the fence, so unfortunately the fence shows in the background of the picture.  But I still love the pic.

Cheetah's ostrich kill

Warning: The pictures in this post my offend sensitive visitors

On our game drive at Kuzuko Lodge the ranger told us that the two cheetah on the reserve hadn't eaten for probably a week so the chances were good that we could encounter a kill that morning.  The cheetah have collars on so we were able to track them down quite easily.  The two of them were feeding on a ostrich which they must have killed less than an hour before we got there.  They were stuffed already with tummies looking like big round balls with one lying in the shade a couple of meters away and the other still picking at his food.

I know the pictures are a bit gruesome, but I love them.  They are a bit different from just having a cheetah walking along in the veld or lying in the shade somewhere.  Pity we didn't get there like an hour earlier cause I would love to have seen them pull the ostrich down.

Cheetah Spots

Its not like you can just walk up to a wild animal and ask them to sit still for a little while you try to get a closeup of them.  Our cheetah interaction experience at Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve outside East London did give me the opportunity to get such a shot of one of their cheetahs.  A cheetah's spots are unique like finger prints and no two cheetahs are exactly the same.

The black "tear marks" running from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth is to keep sunlight out of its eyes and aid in hunting and seeing long distances.  How? Don't ask me.  That's what Wikipedia said.  Another interesting fact that I discovered after mentioning them purring yesterday was that unlike lions, tigers and leopards, the cheetah can purr as it inhales, but cannot roar. By contrast, the big cats can roar but cannot purr, except while exhaling.

Inkwenkwezi cheetah interaction

When it comes to big cats in Africa people usually think of the lion and the leopard as they both fall in the Big 5, which means that the cheetah are often neglected a bit.  But a big cat stays a big cat and during the Mini vs Maxi trip through the Eastern Cape we just couldn't let the opportunity go by to have a cheetah interaction session at Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve outside East London.

Approaching the enclosure you hear a low growling coming from inside.  The ranger quickly assured us that its not them growling but in fact purring.  After a quick briefing we headed inside and once you start to interact with what at 120km/hour is the fastest land mammal in the world, you suddenly realise that they are nothing more than overgrown pussycats.

A hansom pair we make