Cheetahs!

I have been binge watching Cheetahs. Documentaries on Cheetahs wherever I can get them. Surprisingly there are not a lot of them. What beautiful and fragile creatures. It is hard not to love them.Watching a Cheetah going for a Gazelle, tripping it and then going for its neck.. I am rooting for the Cheetah. Knowing how tough it is for the Cheetahs to survive, it's hard not to feel for them.

Interestingly, I never thought or wondered about Cheetahs before.  I actually saw a Cheetah in a Zoo recently. It was one of those drive through Zoos where animals are 'free' and you sit in the car and see them from a close distance. It was a magnificent sight. I could see it only for a fraction of a second through the foliage but oh.. what a sight. Its eyes dazzling. It was alert and upright even though it was in a safe environment. So this image stayed with me and led me wanting to see them more online.

Of all the documentaries I have seen on Cheetahs, this I found to be the best one - Man, Cheetah, Wild. The filmmaker Kim Wolhuter makes 'friends' with the Cheetah family. The family becomes pretty accepting of him and does not even mind when he is standing at a foot's distance as they are devouring their kill. He takes an afternoon nap with Baby Cheetahs and their mother does not mind at all. This guy Kim is one with the wild and has nerves of steel. He walks bare foot in the wild and drinks water from the ponds like rest of the animals.

What makes Cheetahs so much more endearing beyond the visible majesty is knowing how hard their life is. Especially for mother Cheetahs trying to protect its cubs. Male Cheetahs make co-alitions with each other but Female Cheetahs need to fend alone for themselves and their kids. Besides the overarching man made problems, its the Lions, Leopards and the other big cats that pose danger. They kill baby Cheetahs as they are all fighting for the same food resource. A Cheetah does not always get to eat the kill it makes. Again its other predators and Hyenas who would happily eat someone else's kill. 

They may be the fastest land animals, but they are dwindling down at a rapid pace. There are only about 7000 Cheetahs left in the World now. :-(