Spectacle: The African Savanna, Cheetah Riding on a Gazelle – A Stunning, Yet Brutal, Scene
On February 20th, a set of photos published by The Daily Mail could be described as shocking. The Mail on Sunday selected a picture of a cheetah sitting on the back of a kudu (a type of antelope) as the cover, with the article title "Cheetah rides antelope like a cowboy".Initially, readers were led to believe that this was a story about the harmonious coexistence of two animals, but this was not the case.This set of photos is the work of Dutch photographer Dick van Duijn, who is 34 years old and enjoys nature photography.
While visiting the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, Dick was tracking a group of cheetahs he called the "Fast Five Brothers", who always hunted together.
Cheetahs are the fastest animals in the world, capable of accelerating to nearly 100 kilometers per hour in 3 seconds; kudus (also known as South African kudus) are also known for their swiftness, with a running speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour.
At the time, Dick was sitting in a safari jeep, driving over tall grasses, and noticed that a cheetah was moving quickly. As the jeep got closer, he saw the amazing scene: the cheetah was followed by a kudu.
Dick says, "You can’t even imagine how fast these two animals are chasing each other, how tense the scene is."
The steps of the two animals are dazzling, but in the end, the cheetah did catch up to the kudu and rode on its back. The kudu panicked and continued to run with the cheetah for a short distance.
The final outcome is that the cheetah subdued the kudu, and the kudu became the cheetah’s meal.
Dick posted these photos on social networks, which attracted the attention of many netizens. Some even created a melody for these photos, changing the famous rap song "Old Town Road", rewriting the lyrics to "I want to take my kudu to Old Town Road, I want to ride it and can’t ride anymore:)"
Not all netizens liked these photos, many felt their hearts were hurt. Dick lost several hundred fans because of this.
Dick says he likes nature and animals. Cheetahs can't walk into your city's meat shop to weigh a few pounds of meat, and they can't choose vegetarian diets.
The author was attracted to these photos but couldn’t bear to look at them more, seemingly with deep empathy for animals like kudus, but also deeply understanding that this is the real nature, and we should respect it.
What ripples did these photos evoke in your heart?
Source: DAILYMAIL, BING
Editor: Zhang Xiaoling
DAILYMAIL,BING
