Cheetah courting

The search for the cheetah cubs had been fruitless...a hint of wind and they had disappeared with their mother into the thick subtropical coastal bushveld. The focus was shifted off of them as we came up the old airstrip and soon spotted a male cheetah restlessly turning in the grass. He was not complacent and began a frantic trot around the open plain. Something had been carried to him in the wind...a sign, a message...who knew? All his energy, however, was expended on finding the source. The clues were all there as he scent marked from one big marula tree to the next, calling incessantly in between...oestrus was in the air. Unwittingly we left him on the dam wall and bumbled further north only to discover another smaller male cheetah heading down south to our original position. His movements - the same; his ambition - clear. The instinctive male urge was in full motion as the source of natures creation was set to begin. Two minutes passed and we were back with the initial male, only this time he had found his mate...a female, albeit a unwilling one. The balance of power shifted between the two as a game of push-pull ensued amidst occasional cat-fights and snarling. It was only when a standoff resulted did we notice the other male appear behind a termite mound with obvious intent twinkling in his glazed eyes. The atmosphere changed and an uneasy tension cut deep into the late, dusty afternoon air. A pause, a swift sidestep and the two male cats ran at each other, increasing in speed. The initial male, larger in size had the upper hand and chased the smaller fleeing male away, only to leave his prize and lose her into the setting sun as she fled in obvious distress.

Posted: Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 18 October 2006