Cheetah in the Serengeti

Cheetahs are hard to spot in the tall grass but this one looked like it just wanted to be photographed by me. This was taken in the southern Serengeti, where the plains are wide open and seemingly go on for ever. The Serengeti eco-system is home to the second largest surviving cheetah population in Africa, there are thought to be between 1000-2000 cheetahs living here. While they are the fastest animals on earth and decent hunters, it's difficult for them to stop their kills from getting scavenged by aggressive hyenas as well as lions. This is particularly discouraging for an animal that expends so much energy on its hunt. Cheetahs will often give up their kill to even a lone hyena because they can't risk injury given their hunting technique. The fact that a female raises her cubs alone also makes it difficult to increase their numbers. There are a lot of predators out there waiting for her to leave the cubs and go on a hunt.

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