Single females will hold and defend their territories from other females. They mark their territories by means of scent sprayed from an anal pouch. Related males may form coalitions.

Cheetah males are not as territorial as females, but they do keep other males away from their ranges. Competition between males when a female is in oestrus is high and intense with fatalities often been recorded.

Cheetah hunt during daylight hours, with a peak in the morning and evening. They have however, been known to hunt on moonlight nights. Although preying predominantly on antelope such as impala, gazelles and springbok cheetah prey varies from rodents to wildebeest.

Larger antelope such as Wildebeest and Tsessebe will be hunted when there is a cheetah coalition. Female cheetah will catch smaller prey and bring it back live, so that cubs may learn hunting techniques.

Lightweight predators

Cheetah are at the bottom of the predator chain and once they have killed they will eat very quickly as other predators may steal the carcass. Jackals and even vultures have even been observed taking a carcass from a cheetah.

It's thought that cheetah rely solely on their speed to catch their prey. However, observations have proved that cheetahs use cover to first stalk before releasing a burst of speed to outrun their prey. Cheetah knock their prey to the ground in mid-stride by using their paw; they will then bite their prey's neck, causing it to suffocate.

Success rates vary depending on the prey and terrain but in personal observations the success rate is between 40 – 50%.

Speedy

Cheetahs are believed to reach speeds of 120km/h but this remains to be proved. The more realistic speed is 70-80 km/h. The cheetah is not built for stamina and can only hold top speed for short bursts of up to 200m.

Cheetah have a variety of calls from a purr to a growl. They also have a birdlike chirp, used when they are contacting others.

Cheetah hunt

Deception Valley, Central Kalahari

Four cheetah were stalking a young oryx that was standing by itself. The oryx saw them and began to edge closer until the cheetah gave chase, catching it within fifty yards. One of the cheetah jumped onto the oryx’ back and pulled it down. The oryx began bleating as one cheetah caught it on the throat and another got a grip on its groin.

A few minutes later five adult oryx ran in and chased the cheetah off. The young oryx stood up unsteadily as the adults formed a protection around it. The cheetah made attempts at seperating the young oryx from its bodyguards, but the adults kept them away succesfully. After a while the cheetah moved off.

Savuti Marsh, Botswana

A mother and her five sub-adult cubs were lying downwind of a herd of impala. They were watching as the impala moved towards a stand of candlepod acacias. Most the herd had their backs turned to the cheetah and as they reached the acacias two of the cubs got up and moved quickly in a circular stalk to get ahead of the herd.

It seemed as if the cubs were trying to cut the herd off but this didn't make much sense, as they would get upwind of the herd. A distance beyond the herd, impalas sensed something and began to snort. The two cheetah got up and ran toward the herd which then scattered in all directions.

A few impala headed directly into the path of the mother and the other three cubs. When they were about twenty meters away one of the cubs jumped up prematurely and the impala veered away. This hunt was unsuccessful but I observed them using similar tactics on other hunts.