I have heard and read stories about things happening in the wild, about hunters and the hunted. A few weeks ago I was fortunate to come across one of those wildlife experiences.


We were out on a morning game drive and everyone on the vehicle was looking, listening, and hoping to be the first one to spot an animal, I was no exception. For me it was a bit more as I had to concentrate on the road and spoor left by the animals the night before.


Suddenly there was a loud bark from a female Kudu nearby. I quickly switched off the engine and listened. The area we were in was mixed woodland, with open patches where the elephants had broken down trees. The Kudu continued to bark in the same spot. We drove forward and saw the Kudu staring into the long grass. We could see that it was looking at something sleeping, but the grass was knee high and we battled to see what had caught her attention.


We kept searching; drove a bit closer, and then we spotted a female cheetah lying flat on her belly. She had just killed a Kudu calf, and hadn't started feeding yet, as it was just resting. As everyone's excitement started to rise I noticed that the cheetah was eating, I thought this was the reason why the Kudu was barking, but I was wrong.


Suddenly a male lion appeared between the long grass. It started sniffing around but did not seem to notice the cheetah on the kill. The cheetah got a fight, and it jumped up and ran away. The lion chased after the cheetah as it is a natural instinct to chase something. The lion was probably resting nearby and had heard the Kudu barking, so he came to investigate and smelt the blood from the cheetah kill. At least one of our cats got a good meal that day.

Sandiso Shabangu - Field Guide