Face to Face with a Cheetah

Oh to get that close, but sooo unnatural!



SM

As you say so close SM. The Cheetah did look so relaxed about it. The downer for me was the number of vehicles there, although the Cheetah is clearly habituated to them, it must impinge on their hunting, and life with so many around
WS

Way too many vehicles harassing the cheetahs in the Mara at the moment. There was something posted on FB and it was shocking to see.

Lai

Yes it must be pretty awesome to be that close to a cheetah but honestly, that amount of cars is just ridiculous for her, she did seem calm enough but that camera almost in her face might just have got on her nerves and then bang, he could have been in trouble.
Tht didn't seem like seeing a cheetah in her natural habitat doing what she does naturally, she seemed more like a car caged animal on show.

littlewid-x-

I agree with you, way to many tourists.

SM

Now that is up close and personal Doogs. How brilliant, and I know you would have been quiet and respectful.

Only post your pics if you want to no pressure from us.

Lai

That is a stunning pic Doogs, she is soooooooo beautiful and what an experience and yep I know you would have showed Malaika more respect than those tourists.

with Lai, only post them if you want too and feel happy to do so, again no pressure

littlewid-x-

What a wonderful experience that must have been Doogs, so close. I agree with LW, you have respect which is alot different from alot of tourist that want to get as close as possible and any cost.

SM

Lovely photo of the cheetah Doogs and would love to see more pics of your trip if you feel able to post them.
With regard to the video, cheetahs have a particular problem with visitors in the Mara as they are the only big cat that is active during the day and therefore attract all the attention. Unfortunately most visitors are only interested in getting their 'trophy' photo and not in the well being of the animal!! The number of vehicles also make it extremely difficult for the cheetah to hunt as they are constantly being harassed by vehicles that also warn off the prey. The clever cheetahs have learnt to now use vehicles as cover to help them hunt, which is totally unnatural. I think even some of the documentary film-makers are also culpable as they use vast numbers of vehicles to track the poor cheetah to get that special piece of footage. It is very much a pet hate of mine and if I am at a sighting with more than 2 or 3 vehicles I ask my guide to move on. I have been very lucky staying in the Mara North Conservancy which is a private reserve and the only vehicles allowed are from the 10 small camps. On my recent trip I had all my cheetah,lion and leopard sightings to myself except for a couple of occasions when we were joined by another vehicle from our own camp.I only ventured into the Mara proper once to try and catch up with the Marsh Pride and fortunately being early December I only saw a couple of other vehicles.

with you Safariman last time we were in the Mara we were at Naboisho which was perfect, large numbers of lions and no vehicles! We loved it so much we didn't go back to Rekero camp in the Mara Conservancy for the last 2 nights but stayed where we were - the wildlife was magnificent and the lack of people a huge bonus. I love the conservancy as the Marsh Pride, Olive and all our favourite big cats are there but I can't bear the harassment of the wildlife.

Lai

That is a brilliant photograph Doogs Soooo close! Cheetah's to me really do have a friendly looking face.

Anyone going to the Mara should try to be respectful of the animals, and so try to be quiet and so forth, but a problem is always going to be if the place gets too popular with tourists. So for example, on the WAA, we want to promote appreciation of wildlife as much as possible. What would happen if this forum exploded with (even more ) activity, and in 12 months time 10,000 people were off to the Mara?! Well I know that this is not very realistic, but it's a contradiction of the more people travelling there the better world we live in (because of more animal conservationists), but at the same time we lose that unique experience of it just being us and the animal. It really seems like a Catch 22.

Do we go to the Mara and enjoy it, but not tell anyone else about it?

Maybe there could be a rule for allowance into the Mara? "I have made over 1,000 posts on the WAA so I must be granted access."

GR - well I'd be alright with that criteria !!!

You are right though it is catch 22 - and without tourism Kenya would have a major problem.

There are rules in the conservancy in the Mara it's just that some guides and drivers don't respect them.

Lai

A very good point Doogs. 100%.

Lai