Cheetah, Cheetah and Honey Badgers Too February 2020

[mapumbo]

That afternoon we headed back over to the Matiti Area and again there were two groups of vehicles within sight of one another.  George asked us where we should go first.  We said over to the nearest group.  The three cheetah that we had seen first in the morning were resting in a weedy area.  We could see that they were a mother with two grown cubs.  They were fairly well hidden, and not going anywhere.

 

We decided to head over to where we had seen another vehicle and assumed they were with the mother with the young cub.  As we were pulling away from the group of three we could see that the vehicle had made a quick U turn and was driving rapidly.  We all said, she must be on the hunt.  We sped across the open ground hoping we would not discover one of the many wart hog holes that we had been seeing frequently on our drives.

 

On arrival, the mother had the death grip on an impala who was still kicking and breathing.  We were kicking ourselves for not going over to her first but such is the luck.  Mama Ndege and I had still not seen a full successful hunt in 8 safaris.  That was a close one though. 

 

We certainly could not complain with such a wildly successful safari that we had experienced.  23 cheetah in Tanzania plus the 2 in Kenya actually made the 25 total.  3 honey badgers in daylight for an extended period.  Massive herds of calving wildebeests.  Multiple lions with interesting behavior. 3 separate serval sightings, and more that I have probably already forgotten.  Plus great weather and many mornings with nice light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by mapumbo

[Brian's Art for Animals]

wow..a serval, honey badger, and an eland that is actually looking towards the camera and not walking away.. if there were SafariTalk awards this year, you sir would win

[mapumbo]

On 5/7/2020 at 6:54 AM, Brian's Art for Animals said:

wow..a serval, honey badger, and an eland that is actually looking towards the camera and not walking away.. if there were SafariTalk awards this year, you sir would win

 

Thank you very much.  High praise coming from you.  The credit goes to Mama Ndege, the photographer.  

I think you were in the same area just ahead of us and struggling with mud and we had nothing but dust.

Where was your puma photo taken on your avatar?

[Kitsafari]

wow your trip was littered with big cats and small cat. awesome sightings of mating eles, serval, honey badgersss and a trip littered with cheetahs. shows how serengeti can be as productive as mara.

[mapumbo]

@Kitsafari Yes, we were in the Mara the prior week and with all the rains the grass was so tall that the wildlife were outside of the park in the communal lands.  

[Brian's Art for Animals]

the puma was a former pet "sylvester" that was turned over to the big cat rescue i worked at way back in 2000-2008. I have not been lucky to see a mountain lion in the wild here in the US, only a bobcat in California once.

[Atravelynn]

Your summary of the animals seen on the trip is very impressive.  I'm glad you saw so many cheetahs for your sake and for the species' sake.  And you know the last one got a good meal!  Another fabulous trip!