Watch Me Ride Horses and Shoot Arrows! The 'Lightning Five' Cheetahs Chase Gazelles Across the Grasslands, Staging a Life-and-Death Race
Show me riding horses and archery! The Cheetah 'Lightning Five' chase gazelles across the grasslands, staging a life-and-death race.
Recently, Dutch wildlife photographer Van Dueren captured a group of cheetahs hunting gazelles on the African savanna. The visual effects of these pictures are very stunning, especially one picture of a cheetah 'riding and archery', which has attracted a lot of netizens' attention.
These photos were taken in Kenya's Masai Mara National Wildlife Reserve. At that time, photographer Van Dueren tracked the so-called 'Lightning Five' cheetahs.
In order not to affect the normal activities of the cheetahs, Van Dueren and them maintained a relatively distant distance.
Soon, the cheetahs found their prey – a mature gazelle. The cheetahs hid in the tall grass, spread out, and slowly moved towards the gazelle. Before finding the best hunting opportunity, they would never act rashly.
As we all know, cheetahs are the fastest cats, and it takes about 3 seconds for them to accelerate to 90 kilometers per hour. Compared to the gazelle's running speed, which can easily reach 80 kilometers per hour. In this life-and-death race, the gazelle has to escape, and the cheetah has to survive, they both have to put in their all.
The gazelle led the cheetahs by one step at the beginning of the running competition. However, the good times didn't last long, and soon one cheetah chased up the gazelle. This cheetah jumped onto the back of the gazelle with a strong jump. Photographer Van Dueren happened to take a picture of them from opposite, as if this cheetah was 'riding and galloping', which is very majestic.
Soon, this cheetah used its sharp claws to grab the gazelle's hind limbs, causing the gazelle to fall to the ground. The other cheetahs rushed up and surrounded the poor gazelle. This flying sand and stone life-and-death race ended with the 'Lightning Five' cheetahs' victory.
After photographer Van Dueren published these photos on social media, some fans felt that the scene was too intense and felt uncomfortable, so they canceled their attention. Indeed, in people's view, 5 cheetahs attacking a gazelle seems a bit cruel, but this is nature, and nature is sometimes cruel.We know that only lions are group animals in the cat family. But compared to other solitary cat animals, cheetahs are also a little special: cheetah cubs' upbringing is entirely borne by the cheetah mother, and when the cubs grow up, they will leave their mother to live independently;
Male cheetahs will form cheetah alliances to roam the grasslands together.
Unity is strength. Among the carnivorous animals on the grassland, cheetahs are not very strong, even a single cheetah cannot defeat an African wild dog. When several cheetah brothers come together, whether it's hunting or resisting enemies, they have a great advantage, and they can better survive in the everywhere full of dangers grassland.
