cheetah – Page 7 – Christian Sperka Photography

2020-05-22

LOCK DOWN PHOTOGRAPHIC SAFARI 53

A Cheepard!

Well, there is no such animal, but
I think this would be a good term for a Cheetah which behave more like a Leopard. One of Thanda Safari’s male Cheetahs is very shy and elusive, likes the thick bush and has no problem to disappear for days on end. Even with telemetry (all Thanda’s Cheetahs are part of a conservation program and wear radio collars) this specimen is behaving like Houdini.

But this morning, with the help of Thanda Safari’s wildlife coordinator Mariana Venter, I was able to take some good pictures of this beautiful cat. On the same game drive we saw another Cheetah female, a Black Rhino, a Black-headed Heron and a magnificent Kudu bull in the morning mist.

What a drive!

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2020-05-19

LOCK DOWN PHOTOGRAPHIC SAFARI NO.50

Cheetah Care!

One of Thanda Safari’s male Cheetah injured his leg a few weeks ago. Since then he and his coalition partner are in a boma (enclosed area with full room service!) to allow the leg to heal. On the weekend the Thanda wildlife team and the attending veterinarian Dr.Trevor Viljoen with his team took additional X-rays and discussed continued treatment. The uninjured Cheetah was watching the proceedings with interest and with a few snarls.

When these two males arrived at Thanda in June 2018, the wildlife team kept them together in a boma for quite a while where they bonded successfully into a coalition. They were then released onto the reserve and have stayed together since then. Individuals in such Cheetah coalitions have a much greater chance of surviving the pressures of other large predators.

Have a good evening and stay safe!

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2020-05-09

STAY-AT-HOME SATURDAY

A walk down the road – our three Cheetah cubs with their mum.

Have a good weekend!

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2020-03-06

MAMMAL FRIDAY – CHEETAH MALES CALLING

We had a great Cheetah sighting this morning. These two males posed on eye-level and starting calling for a near-by female 😊

Have a good weekend!

🎥 Videoe taken with an iPhone Xs Max

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2019-12-20

MAMMAL FRIDAY – CHEETAH

A remarkable feature of Cheetahs is their unusually low genetic variability in comparison to other cats.

Individuals are genetically very similarity to one another. It is assumed that this might have resulted from a long period of inbreeding, following a genetic bottleneck during the last ice age.

These pictures of a Cheetah female – watching a two male coalition down the road and meeting them – were taken at Thanda Safari.

Have a good weekend!

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2019-12-062019-12-06

Mammal Friday – Cheetah

This young *Cheetah* female was very alert when I took this picture. She made a quick bark-like sound as we came a bit too close for her comfort. As we backed off she relaxed and stayed for a photo session.

Interesting Cheetah fact: Cheetahs cannot roar. Non-roaring cats like Cheetahs have a one-piece hyoid bone. Only four of the 38 wild cat species can roar: Lion, Tiger, Leopard and Jaguar.

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2019-02-24

CHEETAH WEEK

I an featuring a species per week on my social media channels. Here is a summary of the last week’s posts (and some blog bonus images). I hope you enjoy some of my favorite Cheetah pictures :-).

All pictures were taken at various locations in South Africa.

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2017-01-27

From the archives …

I have just uploaded 74 more Cheetah images taken between 2004 and early 2017. Have a look at http://www.sperka.biz/sg3 (total 189 images).

This is one of many species gallery available online at http://www.sperka.biz/sg

Please contact me at info@sperka.com in case you are interested in publishing any of these images or if you would like to license any image for printing (for personal or commercial use).

These are a few of these new images!

2017-01-22

The Cheetah brothers on a kill …

As I walked out of my room at Thanda House I spotted the two Thanda Cheetah brothers just beyond our garden’s northern fence line. They were moving west, while carefully checking for other predators.

I walked around the building to my vehicle when I saw them again much closer to our northern gate. They were now feasting on a large Kudu cow, who must have been killed a while ago (large parts of her were already eaten). Her unborn calf was lying next to her. Unlike Lions, who would have eaten the fetus immediately, the two Cheetahs were eating the adult Kudu first.

This kill was so large that the Cheetah would never finish it. So Hyenas, Jackals, Vultures and many other smaller creatures will enjoy meals from this Kuku cow.

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