Kgalagadi Cheetah Kill

On day two of our first visit to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we were fortunate enough to witness our second cheetah kill near Gemsbokplein...We drove past the springbok where it was sunbathing in the open dry river bed and barely took any cognisance of it. Needless to say, it all changed when we suddenly saw the cheetah in the shade of a tree about one hundred meters further - It was already preparing for the chase! A quick "Reverse Liefie!!!" was all I said to my wife who was driving and trust me, it was the longest one hundred meter reverse I ever experienced! We missed the first couple of precious seconds of the chase, but at least I could get the rest! Unfortunately the light was against me, but I tried to make the best of the situation...

I only saw that the springbok broke his leg when I processed the images and once again appreciated his fighting spirit and desire for life - He was down with a broken leg and we thought it was all over, when he suddenly got up and made another run for it, just postponing the inevitable!

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© Rudi van den Heever - LinRu Photography

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