No fixed abode!
Cheetahs are sleek and gracile. Their amazing speed is a result of a light frame, special muscles (an increased number of "fast twitch" muscle fibres which are able to cope with anaerobic respiration better than standard muscle), a massive heart/lungs and a long supple spine. Their claws are non-retractile giving them greater ground traction and the long tail is a counter-balance which allows them to turn rapidly at high speed. These very adaptions are also the cheetah's downfall -they lack sharp tearing claws, the light-weight frame is easily damaged and not sufficiently robust for the cheetah to hold its own in a face to face fight with a similarly sized predator. Cheetahs spend their life on the move. They tackle light-weight prey whose main defence is speed and they studiously avoid confrontation with other predators. From a young age cheetahs live a life on the move, never staying in the one place for too long and always avoiding confrontation with lions, leopards or hyenas wherever possible.
This image was taken in Amboseli -a national park that does not normally afford good prospects of seeing cheetahs. Perhaps this family wandered in from nearby Tsavo West or possibly even from across the Tanzanian border.
Fortunately I have a very patient wife and daughter as we had to sit waiting a very long time for this family to line up for a pleasing compostion. Sadly it was mid-morning with a cloudy sky so the lighting wasn't perfect (cheetahs look their best when photographed in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun can pick out their amber eyes).
No fixed abode!
Cheetahs are sleek and gracile. Their amazing speed is a result of a light frame, special muscles (an increased number of "fast twitch" muscle fibres which are able to cope with anaerobic respiration better than standard muscle), a massive heart/lungs and a long supple spine. Their claws are non-retractile giving them greater ground traction and the long tail is a counter-balance which allows them to turn rapidly at high speed. These very adaptions are also the cheetah's downfall -they lack sharp tearing claws, the light-weight frame is easily damaged and not sufficiently robust for the cheetah to hold its own in a face to face fight with a similarly sized predator. Cheetahs spend their life on the move. They tackle light-weight prey whose main defence is speed and they studiously avoid confrontation with other predators. From a young age cheetahs live a life on the move, never staying in the one place for too long and always avoiding confrontation with lions, leopards or hyenas wherever possible.
This image was taken in Amboseli -a national park that does not normally afford good prospects of seeing cheetahs. Perhaps this family wandered in from nearby Tsavo West or possibly even from across the Tanzanian border.
Fortunately I have a very patient wife and daughter as we had to sit waiting a very long time for this family to line up for a pleasing compostion. Sadly it was mid-morning with a cloudy sky so the lighting wasn't perfect (cheetahs look their best when photographed in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun can pick out their amber eyes).