By Roxanne Reid
Summer in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and we were watching the miracle of birth a kilometre or two south of Kamfersboom waterhole on the Auob riverbed.
Summer in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and we were watching the miracle of birth a kilometre or two south of Kamfersboom waterhole on the Auob riverbed.
The springbok mum was resting next to the road when we found her, the head and front hooves of a lamb poking out of her rear end. Soon the body would follow and the newborn would get its first experience of Kalahari sand.
Mum was quiet, dignified, none of the wailing and gnashing of teeth you get from humans giving birth. After a few minutes she got up and walked two or three metres north, the lamb’s tiny hooves flopping as she stepped.
Mum was quiet, dignified, none of the wailing and gnashing of teeth you get from humans giving birth. After a few minutes she got up and walked two or three metres north, the lamb’s tiny hooves flopping as she stepped.
Then out of nowhere came a sprinting cheetah. Dust flew as the springbok tried to run up the dune and get away.
Now we had ringside seats for a kill we didn’t really want to witness.
Now we had ringside seats for a kill we didn’t really want to witness.
Encumbered by the half-born lamb, the springbok was not at her best. She hadn’t gone more than a few metres when the cheetah dug in with his dewclaw, pulling her off-balance. She fought and kicked but made no sound. He held her down with his front paws and bit into her throat to close off her windpipe, keeping well clear of her horns. A cheetah’s canines are so small that they penetrate only a short way into the neck, but the jaws have a vice-like grip.
The two stayed locked in this position for about five minutes, the springbok occasionally jerking and thrashing. Then she stopped struggling.
The cheetah unclamped his jaws and took her by the neck, dragging her five metres to the shade of a camelthorn tree. After the chase and the kill, this was a mighty effort. The pregnant springbok was almost the same size as him and probably weighed only about ten kilograms less. It was 40 degrees Celsius so the shade of that tree was critical for the already overheated cheetah.
The cheetah unclamped his jaws and took her by the neck, dragging her five metres to the shade of a camelthorn tree. After the chase and the kill, this was a mighty effort. The pregnant springbok was almost the same size as him and probably weighed only about ten kilograms less. It was 40 degrees Celsius so the shade of that tree was critical for the already overheated cheetah.
He lay down and we could hear his panting, see his chest rising and falling at hyperventilation speed. A cheetah’s breathing rate can go as high as 150 breaths a minute after a chase, its temperature soars, and it has to cool down for about half an hour.
All this time we watched the lamb’s face, its eyes blinking, its mouth opening and closing without a sound. It was only a matter of time before it would be dead too – a horrible end to all of mum’s investment in a six-month pregnancy.
All this time we watched the lamb’s face, its eyes blinking, its mouth opening and closing without a sound. It was only a matter of time before it would be dead too – a horrible end to all of mum’s investment in a six-month pregnancy.
Fifteen, twenty minutes passed. Still the cheetah lay panting, cooling down before he could feed. Then he got up and flipped the buck the other way round so we couldn’t see the lamb anymore. That was a relief for us, although it didn’t change anything for the lamb.
He set about opening the mother’s back leg with his side teeth. From just three metres away, we could clearly see his spittle and the wet fur on the springbok’s leg. We could see his bloody jaws and face, even the white tendons as the cheetah ripped at the dark meat, his whole face disappearing into the hole as he ate.
He set about opening the mother’s back leg with his side teeth. From just three metres away, we could clearly see his spittle and the wet fur on the springbok’s leg. We could see his bloody jaws and face, even the white tendons as the cheetah ripped at the dark meat, his whole face disappearing into the hole as he ate.
Once he satisfied his first hunger pangs, he lay next to the buck and started panting again, his eyelids falling then opening, alert for thieving lions or hyenas.
According to cheetah boffin Luke Hunter, adult cheetahs need about 4-5 kilograms of meat per day but if they get the chance they can eat up to about 15 kilograms at a sitting. This cheetah would rest and feed again as long as no lions or hyenas came to bug him.
According to cheetah boffin Luke Hunter, adult cheetahs need about 4-5 kilograms of meat per day but if they get the chance they can eat up to about 15 kilograms at a sitting. This cheetah would rest and feed again as long as no lions or hyenas came to bug him.
Setting aside the human upset over watching a springbok lamb die, the best part of this sighting was that we saw it from start to finish. And that at any one time there were never more than three other cars with us at the sighting. (One car went sailing past at about 60km per hour! What’s with that?)
During our 12 days in the park we’d seen only five cheetahs. Talking to other people who had seen so many – one couple had seen 21 in two weeks – made us deeply jealous. But numbers aren’t everything. A gift on our last day in the park, this was just one individual but it was probably the best cheetah sighting of our lives.
And that’s life and death in the Kgalagadi. The miracle of birth, then a streak of spotted fur and two animals are dead. It’s not evil or cruel, it’s just nature.
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During our 12 days in the park we’d seen only five cheetahs. Talking to other people who had seen so many – one couple had seen 21 in two weeks – made us deeply jealous. But numbers aren’t everything. A gift on our last day in the park, this was just one individual but it was probably the best cheetah sighting of our lives.
And that’s life and death in the Kgalagadi. The miracle of birth, then a streak of spotted fur and two animals are dead. It’s not evil or cruel, it’s just nature.
Like it? Pin this image!
More about the Kgalagadi
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za.
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za.
