Reporting Date: 13/12/2011

Two female cheetahs have cubs south of Maasai Mara and the surving cubs are doing well. Evidence shows that most cheetahs lose between 50-60% of the cubs to the other predators especially in their first year.

On full day game drive, Japhet and his guests came across this female with one cub. Two weeks ago she had two and we suspect that she must have lost one last week. Interestingly in these cats, the rule of 'ladies first' doesnt apply. Instead its 'cubs first' especially when it comes to feeding. The mother who often does the killing also monitors the surroundings as the cubs feed just to make sure all is well. Cheetahs are known to be weak and easily loose their kills to the other cats and even get intimidated by vultures. The guests were impresed by the organisation of the feeding when Japhet explained the procedure.

NB: * = Same animals seen by different rangers