Coalition and the Zebra

Yesterday evening we were following a coalition of 3 male cheetah down the road when suddenly they crouched down, noticing some zebra we stopped and watched. What happened next transpired so fast, the zebra ran the cheetah ran and I drove. We turned a bend just in time to see 2 of the cheetah lunging at a fully grown stallion - we realised very soon that the stallion must have been trying to help the foal that the 3rd cheetah had on the ground. We all know that cheetah can run fast, but seeing them in action is truly amazing. We watched for a while while the cheetah fed. After a drinks stop, we returned to find the entire zebra herd, not more than 5 meters from the feeding cheetah. One by one the zebras came forward, looked at the foal and then moved off. A strange sight bringing up lots of questions about animal behaviour. Why would the zebra return?

Posted: Kwandwe by Rowan Seagers, Date: 19 May 2007