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Cheetah cubs in the Kalahari

21 May 2009

Location: Kalahari Plains Camp, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana
Date: 15 May 2009
Observers: Thuto Moutloatse
Photos: Thuto Moutloatse

I have just spent the last week in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and had some wonderful wildlife sightings. We had a small thundershower earlier on in the month and in consequence the Kalahari seemed to burst into life. We had good sightings of honey badger, black-backed jackal, groups of bat-eared fox, meerkat (suricates), lion and numerous general game species like gemsbok and springbok.

The highlight of our recent visit had to be that of the cheetah sightings in Deception Valley. There are about three different female cheetah that have cubs of different ages at the moment and we were lucky enough to see them on several occasions.

One afternoon just after the rain had stopped and the sun started coming out from behind the clouds, we set out for an afternoon game drive. There were big herds of springbok and gemsbok in the Valley which made for great landscape photography.

I then noticed a black-backed jackal running around and calling in a very alarming way - when we moved closer to take a look, we spotted a cheetah mother and her four small cubs very close to the road. Following the rain these cheetah had moved in to the open to get some sun and drink from the water-filled puddles in the road.

This was an incredible sighting as we do not often see cheetah with such young cubs. When they are this young, the cubs have thick grey fur on their backs, and closely resemble the aggressive honey badger from a distance. This is thought to be a defence mechanism, as honey badgers are fierce animals, left alone by most predators, and the vulnerable cheetah cubs need as much protection as possible.

This female was very relaxed in our presence, and afforded us a rare opportunity to take some great "family portraits" of her and her cubs.